Shades of Grey
by Audriel
Summary: A series of what ifs leads to a series of questions. This is the story that explores the question: What would be left for Zero if he let Yuuki go? A character study of Zero and an exploration of Vampire Knight world.
1. Prologue

This story started from a list of what ifs. What if Yuuki chose Kaname over Zero? What if Yuuki or Zero thought they weren't meant together? What if the world in VK somehow settled? What if Zero became the Hunters leader and Kaname became the Vampires leaders?

Followed by a series of question such as: How would Zero take it? Would Zero keep pining, angsting over Yuuki? Would he be a good president? Would Kaname still try to use Zero? Would Zero be able to find his own happiness? At what cost?

And thus, I started to write and found that it would be interesting to put some characters that are completely different from the already established characters in VK and some settings that has yet to be explored and so, I created many characters (OC), both humans and vampires alike. One of them was Misaki. Through this certain character of mine, I made an exploration of Zero's character, which surprisingly led to interesting drama and angst-filled story. If you don't like OCs in your favorite fandom, you might avoid reading this story. But if you can tolerate OC and see the story for it is, please do read the story before you lay your judgment :)

**Warning:** There might be some dark themes, violence and non-consensual sex, but nothing graphic.

**Disclaimer:** I only own my story, my characters and my take of the world in VK, but nothing of Hino Matsuri's masterpiece.

Thanks to Shapby for the editing.

~Audriel

* * *

**Prologue**

Sounds of swift and strong footsteps could be heard as the hard soles of shoes scraped against the stone pavement.

_The bells were ringing in slow and steady rhythm._

_The sound rang throughout the surrounding of the grand church standing on the foot of the mountain, announcing the event that was about to take place within its sanctuary._

Those dark polished shoes were belonged to a tall young man with silvery hair billowing in the wind as he moved with such deadly poise and grace that was as visible to the eyes of the mortals as to the eyes of the immortals who laid their eyes upon the man, even as he was in the motion of donning the black coat over his sharp grey suit.

_The man who was standing on the altar was wearing the tuxedo perfectly in the way no one could possibly imitate, the very same way no one could imitate the way he carried himself with undeniable confidence and authority as he stood in front of the church. His distinctive dark red eyes turned towards the entrance as the familiar tune of wedding march started playing to see two figures appearing at the end of the pathway to the altar._

The hand that wasn't on the steering wheel was tugging agitatedly at the silk grey tie around his neck as his foot pressed the gas to the full, making the engine groaned in response before increasing the speed of the sleek dark-colored vehicle through the country road.

_The new arrivals were wearing contrasting colors; one was covered in white while the other was covered in black. The one that was wearing black was a middle-aged man although his appearance didn't betray his age, the usually tied back hair was loose and the ever-present glasses were discarded for this special occasion. He had his arm linked to the figure in white whose sight of her managed to make everyone who was present to catch their breath in admiration._

_He was no exception. _

He threw his tie carelessly onto the empty seat next to him and continued to fiddle with the upper buttons of his shirt as if it was constricting him to breathe, but his face remained blank and emotionless, not giving away his tumultuous emotion.

_He was present, despite his feelings in the matter. He was there, despite his presence wasn't entirely welcomed. He could not just leave her; he could not leave her side just because someone else was going to take his place next to her. He stood at the far end of the pew on the side of the bride's friends and family._

He gritted his teeth, trying not to think as he drove like he was being chased by demons, not decreasing his speed for the slightest bit as the car made a sharp and dangerous turn on the freeway. He had a death grip on the steering wheel that turned his knuckles white.

_She was beautiful._

_She had always been to him. She was the very representation of white and everything the color held._

_Purity. _

_Innocence._

_She was everything that he was not and he was keeping it that way, regardless she was no longer the Yuuki he grew up with, but she was Yuuki nonetheless with her painful belief and acceptance to others who didn't deserve it._

He ignored the calls that were coming through his cell, letting it vibrate harmlessly on the leather seat next to him and letting it be ignored throughout the drive. He could make few and several guesses whom it might be, because not many people had the number of his phone, but not a single one of them made him want to answer the phone.

_He kept his eyes on the radiant bride in her simple, yet elegant flowing white wedding gown. He barely noticed the tune that followed the bride, barely noticed the man accompanying her to the altar, barely noticed the man waiting for her at the altar. In his eyes, there was only her, because he knew this would be the last. This would be the last time he would ever gaze upon her this way._

He arrived on the airport in a record-breaking time, bringing the vehicle into a smooth halt in the driveway. He slid out of the driver's side and let the valet take his car to the airport parking area as he stepped into the building, leaving the tie and the phone in the car.

_He ignored the painful ache in his heart as they were declared man and wife. He could barely return the smile given his way as she found him among the others, despite how much he tried to be invisible. He could finally smile when those expressive eyes seemed to brighten at the sight of him, but he wasn't oblivious that the glow that surrounded her wasn't caused by him._

_He managed to offer his congratulations to the newly married couple. He even managed to shake the Kuran leader's hand and look straight into his eyes. He knew that he didn't need to say anything, because the man knew what this single gesture meant. _

_He was relinquishing her to him._

_The word of gratitude held more meaning than the other platitudes given to others who offered their congratulations to the Japanese monarch._

He walked to the counter and placed his order without the slightest hesitation, even though the only thing that he brought along was everything on his person. There was only one destination in his mind. And within few minutes he was already boarded on the flight to Paris, France in the first class cabin in order to avoid sitting next to people.

_He remained until the reception, an action that surprised many. However, from the sad gaze directed at him by the father of the bride, he knew that not everyone was surprised nor fooled by the façade he was wearing throughout the affair. _

He didn't know how time passed by, he had lost track of time since the day started, long before he finally did what he was expected to do: leave.

_He watched indifferently as Kuran took his wife to dance their first dance, moving with the usual grace as he twirled the beautiful woman before him. They were perfect for each other._

_Then being the gentleman he was, Kuran gave her away to his father-in-law who took the bride to a round of father and bride dance. He could see the look on his adoptive father's face as he danced with his proclaimed daughter. He appeared nothing like the dangerous hunter he used to be known of, trying to hold back the tears._

_In a bold move on her part, instead of dancing with any other high-ranked guest, she approached the place where he had been standing unobtrusively as if she had been looking for him all along and asked him for a dance, telling that he owed her one from their previous days that were almost like hazy memories that weren't quite actually real._

He tried to sleep through the flight, but the memories of the day kept plaguing him even in his sleep. He always went back to that moment where he danced with her for the very first time in a long time.

_Her small and soft hand still had its firm grip as she pulled him slightly forcefully that reminded him of those days when she always pulled him by the hand whenever he barely felt the need to move. He felt a ghost of a smile over his face at the reminder that Yuuki wasn't completely gone._

_When they finally got to the middle of the clearing, he pretended to know nothing of dance and she followed his lead by guiding his hands to her waist and intertwining their hands, and slowly they moved to the music playing in the background._

_She was warm and soft against him. She felt real against him that dispelled the thought of this being merely a dream. There were few words exchanged but eventually they were lost in the moment. There were only two of them for those few precious moments._

_There were only Yuuki and Zero._

He couldn't hide his relief when the announcement came through the communication channel from the captain that they were landing on _Charles de Gaulle_. He ignored the slight discomfort as he rose from his seat for the past long hours, knowing that he would recover in no time. He donned his coat as he was exposed to the cold air that greeted him as he stepped out to the Paris air, breathing in the comparably warmer air.

_After that surreal moment, he could no longer stay, knowing that it would cost his everything to stay any moment longer than he should. He didn't say anything to her; he didn't leave any message to her of his leaving, because he knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave._

_She had made her decision. He had made his long before her. It was about time for him to live by the consequences. And the time must be now._

He navigated his way through the busy streets of Paris, blending in with the pedestrians that wouldn't be possible back in Japan with his distinctive features. He let the foreign chatter wash over him, his mind easily translating the snatches of conversations around him. He was just another person here.

_When he turned his back to her, he didn't let him look back and kept himself going with firm, decisive steps away from her._

He stood before a door that became familiar to him by now, with the cursive dark writing against golden panel on the wall next to the door to indicate the number of the apartment. He raised his hand to rap his knuckles none too firmly against the door. He could hear a feminine voice calling out for him to wait in French, the sounds of approaching footsteps and the faint click of the locking mechanism before the door opened to reveal the occupant of the apartment.

Clear blue eyes found pale silver eyes.

"Zero."

All the thoughts that had been haunting him seemed to fade away into the background as if it was mere distractions of little consequence. His tense posture visibly relaxed as if the weight was removed from his shoulders.

"Misaki."

I

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I

Afterwards he was found walking side by side with the young woman in a slow, leisure pace through the small streets that were less crowded than the main streets, allowing them space and distance from other Parisians walking by.

They barely exchanged words or glances, simply walking along in companionable silence. They had pulled their coats tighter around their body, protecting them from the cold. In March, Paris was still considerably chilly, although with occasional appearance of the sun that warmed the days. This wasn't one of those rare days.

It was still warmer than in Japan and it helped him to be more at ease, being away from the place he was too familiar with. Paris provided the comfort and relief he needed whenever he felt the burden upon him was too great to bear. He was fully aware that the reason why it was Paris of all cities was this person next to him. At this, he subtly shifted his gaze to his companion.

She didn't seem aware of his attention; her eyes that resembled the sky at its clearest were shining brightly as they drank the sight around her as if she was seeing it for the first time, her cheeks were slightly flushed as it was exposed to the chill, her lips were formed in a small, content smile. She was one of few people who actually could feel comfortable around him, and one of few he felt comfortable around.

Considering how they started, it was completely unexpected, but at the same time, it might be expected. When she approached him first to ask for his help, he had been wary of her. When he eventually decided to take her offer, striking a temporary alliance until both of them achieved their purpose; he didn't completely trust her still, especially she seemed to have the ability to bring out the worst of him with her blunt words that usually ended up having them exchanging hurtful words to each other.

However, he found out that despite the scathing remarks he gave her, there were truth lying beneath them and he hadn't been that honest to himself or to anyone the way he was to her. She had seen the worst of him, yet she never looked at him any differently, never laying judgment, never giving pity, only giving him the look that she _understood_. She understood as well or even better than himself what he went through, because she went through the same thing. They shared similar fate, with the only difference laid on the way they handled it.

When they both achieved what they wanted, they remained. They remained even after there was nothing left to keep them together, even when the reason why they were together was already gone, but letting go was the last thing on their mind. They knew that they wouldn't find anyone else who actually understood the way they understood each other. And so they remained, even as their paths diverged.

He assumed the position of the leader of Hunter Association and she continued her studies in Paris, France. His duties as the leader of the Association in Eurasia made him travel often back and forth between the two adjacent continents and he made a habit of making random visits to her whenever he happened to be nearby. French became one of the first foreign languages he learned and became fluent in.

She had the appearance of an ordinary girl, with the typical combination of blue eyes and blond hair that was shared by many others. She could be easily overlooked if she wanted to and she usually preferred it that way. If he didn't know any better, he would have done so. She was not overly tall, but not petite, either. She didn't have to raise her head too much to look at him, something she had remarked casually in passing. She wasn't into fashion, but living in the city of fashion nevertheless made her at the least fashion conscious -and indirectly, him-, the coat she wore over her clothes fitted her nicely.

She gave him some sense of stability, some sense of control, but he knew that it wouldn't last. The suppressed feelings and thoughts were still there, hovering at the edges, waiting for its time to break out and surface. He had tried to keep himself together for the past months since he said those words to Yuuki that they would never work out -a truth that they both already knew- and for her to let go, because as long as she held on, he couldn't let her go and they would only fall into downward spiral of destruction. He wasn't surprised when she finally told him that she was getting married to the Kuran and gave them his blessing. His mind told him that it was for the best, but his heart could yet follow.

"Uh oh, I _knew_ it was going to rain."

Her words broke him away from his thoughts. She was looking at the sky, her hand stretched out, palm outward, catching droplets of water and he knew what it meant as he followed her gaze to the swiftly darkening heavens. Paris was also well-known for its erratic and sudden downpours, and he knew from experience, in no time, if they didn't hurry for shelter, they would be drenched to the bone. Both of them were looking around trying to find the closest shelter, but there were none, leaving the only option to return to her apartment.

"Let's hurry then," she nudged him as they increased their pace before the heavy rainfall caught them, but before halfway to their destination, the wind and the rain picked up. Noticing that her coat wouldn't provide enough protection from the rain, he took off his coat, pulling her closer and placed it over their heads. She only gave her a frown of disapproval but said nothing, holding the coat over them, instead and concentrating on keeping up with his long legs.

He was suddenly aware of the close proximity between them. They always kept certain distance to each other, wary of each other's preferred personal space. They rarely intruded on them; they respected and trusted each other not to. He felt the heat of her body through the material of their clothes as their shoulders brushed against each other by accident. He caught a whiff of mild fresh, flowery scent from her that reminded him of field of flowers in the mornings and the scent of something else beneath the fragrance she wore. He wondered faintly why he paid notice to such things and forced himself to get rid of the improper thoughts, focusing on reaching the apartment as quick and dry as possible.

They managed to get to the apartment building, sighing in relief the moment they stepped their feet in the dry hallways, safe from the heavy downpour. Despite their best efforts they were pretty drenched, especially the lower half of their body that was barely shielded from the rain, added that in their haste they stepped into several puddles of water. Misaki immediately raised the temperature in the apartment she shared with her friends after taking off her wet boots and coat at the door.

"Please, come in," she gestured to him. It wasn't his first time coming to her apartment, but he didn't allow himself the familiarity to get in uninvited, especially when she had roommates, whose presence in the apartment he didn't find.

"They went home for the holidays. They didn't during the winter holidays, after all," she didn't fail to notice his questioning gaze, even as she was appearing from her room with fresh towels. Her friends often chose to stay during the two weeks holidays allocated for university students, knowing that Misaki had no one to spend the holidays with.

"They're good people," he said, the sentiment was sincere, and he knew that she knew, seeing a slight smile on her lips.

"They are," she agreed, then looked apologetic, "I'm afraid I don't have anything for you to change into."

"It's alright. It's nothing, really." He had been through worse, having been in much more extreme and less pleasant conditions. She gave him the look he recognized as to the look of reading under the lines, listening to the words unspoken with the slightest tilt of her head.

"I'll make us some warm drinks. Would you like the usual?" She easily changed the course of conversation before he could feel uncomfortable. These small things never failed to make him truly grateful for having her companionship. He only gave her a small nod and was returned with another smile before she went to the kitchen to make their drinks.

The absence of her presence by his side suddenly left him cold and empty, as if she had been a source of light and warmth to him and being deprived of her presence made him return to the state he was in before he stood before the door of her apartment. He walked to the windows overlooking the streets where he could watch her figure from the corner of his eye, not wanting to spoil the furniture by sitting on them in his wet clothes. He leaned on the windowsill, his arms crossed, and eyes watching absently the movements underneath.

He usually could set aside all the matters troubling him while he was on his visits to her by asking for her advice or by pretending for a while that there was nothing troubling him, but he couldn't do that now, not when the matters were too close to the heart. It would always be there, despite his best efforts to ignore it, to pretend it wasn't there at all. This was one of those.

He ran his hand through his face and hair, a gesture that became his habit whenever he was weary or frustrated with himself. He felt his composure starting to fray, to his dismay. The last thing he wanted was to lose control and fell apart.

That was why he couldn't help his reaction, turning sharply when he felt another's presence next to him, momentarily forgotten where he was, so absorbed he was in his musings, but eventually relaxed when he realized who it was. She didn't fail to notice his initial reaction, a concerned frown grace her features.

"Here," she handed a steaming mug filled with golden brown liquid, by the scent alone he knew it was the way he liked it.

"Thanks," he accepted the tea offered to him, the warmth was biting against his cold hand. She merely nodded and stood next to him, setting her gaze to the sight of the falling rain through the glass. For a while they only stood there, he avoided looking her way, barely drinking his tea.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Somehow he had seen this coming, his lips quirked slightly at the corner when he was proven right. She had done well so far, holding back all the questions she might want to ask after finding him on her doorstep in such a state. He had no doubt that she already knew the reason for his abrupt visit. She didn't seem surprised when she laid her eyes on him. Then again, when you were gifted with foresight, nothing would easily surprise you anymore. And in the end, despite all the considerate gestures, she remained the same straightforward person he first met.

"…Today was the wedding," he started, but stopped, not quite ready to elaborate. Unconsciously he took a deep breath before he continued,

"It was Yuuki's wedding," he paused, suddenly he felt as if a great weight settled upon his chest, "She's married to him now."

With those words, the memories he tried hard to suppress immediately came flooding his mind with the moments involving the woman he had loved for a long time, the days that had long gone and out of reach. Those memories invoked all the feelings he had bottled up, filling him with such a torrent of emotion that threatened to knock him off his feet. Unconsciously he gritted his teeth, the hand holding the mug was shaking with suppressed emotions, threatening to break it into pieces. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to regain his composure.

"And I gave them my blessing," but he continued still, wanting to speak his mind. He faintly recognized the bitterness in his own voice that sounded foreign to his ears. He realized that a part of him was appalled and angry of the idea of giving up Yuuki to that man without much of a fight, and another part of him had completely and willingly submitted to it.

He was tired.

He was tired of fighting against everything. He was tired of fighting for everything. He had nothing he could call his own. Not even his life. In the end, he was tired of having to own anything, only to have them taken away from him.

The realization left him feeling numb and hollow. He could no longer feel the pain or the anger. He could no longer feel anything.

Faintly he could hear someone calling out his name over and over. When he failed to give any reaction, he felt something tugged him strongly to make him turn towards the person. A young woman with golden hair and blue eyes looked him with such real concern that made him suddenly felt the need, the _desire_ to feel again.

He didn't think. He didn't let himself think; instead, he let his instincts take over. His senses were suddenly heightened, making him painfully aware of the flecks of silver in her eyes, of the gentle waves of her golden hair, of the curve of her lips, of the smooth skin of her exposed neck and shoulder, of the burning heat from the skin where she touched him, and of the underlying scent he finally recognized. A certain scent that sent a rush of excitement and hunger coursing through him. A familiar ache started to grow within his chest.

Blood.

_Her_ blood.

I

I

I

Misaki was trying to break him away from his stupor, the lack of reaction and the blank look in his eyes made her worried and admittedly, afraid. She had never seen him in such state. She had seen him in various states: from apathetic, devoid of any emotion to filled with such rage and hatred, but there was always life in his eyes. Never had she seen those silver eyes so dead, so empty.

Until there was a sudden glint in his eyes that she didn't recognize, followed by a spreading red in his pupils.

Suddenly she found herself being pushed back against the cool glass roughly, the mug fell from her fingers and made a dull thud on the wooden floor and before she realized what was happening, all she was aware of was the sharp pain on her neck that made her cry out, instinctively closing her eyes shut to block the pain. Through the pain, she registered strong pressure on both of her arms that was keeping her pinned against the window. She tried to wiggle free blindly, only to have her body pressed by something solid and warm and her neck pierced deeper –-by fangs, somehow her mind managed to supply that information.

The first thought that crossed her mind was how much it _hurt_.

She had once given her blood to him, but only from her wrist because he was reluctant to take any blood even in his condition back then and because she didn't dare to give her neck to him. It had hurt, naturally, considering how thin her wrist was and how many bones and muscles were around the veins, but it was nothing compared to this. It might be because she wasn't given time to react or to prepare herself or because of the forceful way he seemed to feed on her. His fangs sank deep into her veins, trying to seize as much blood as possible, whereas before he was more gentle and careful not to sink his fangs too deep.

She had tried to push him away from her: pushing him with her hands, pounding on his chest with her fists repeatedly, fueled by panic and fear at the sudden and rough treatment. However, it was like hitting a brick wall; he was firm and unyielding, giving no indication that he felt her resistance. She kept trying in various ways until her throat felt hoarse and her fists hurt of continuous attempt of breaking away from him, but eventually, her strength was waning. She slumped weakly against the solid surface behind her, her hands fell limply by her sides, her breath became shallower and her vision swum dangerously, making her unable to stand upright if it wasn't for him pressing her up.

She tried to fill her lungs with as much oxygen as possible, almost desperately, wanting to clear her mind of the sudden haze. If she wanted to get out from this situation, she had to be able to think, she had to stay awake and to know what was happening to her. The haze made it nearly impossible to know what was going on, she could hardly see and hear and feel, so she didn't see that he had stopped taking her blood or feel his heated breath upon her skin or hear the sound of something tearing apart.

Only when she felt herself completely exposed to the chilly March air, the cold seeping through her skin unhindered, her senses were jolted awake. She realized with surprise and horror that she was completely bare without a single shred of fabric on her body. She was slammed down roughly on the floor, driving the air out of her lungs. She felt him before she saw his larger but no less bare frame hovering over her.

"Ze..ro…," she tried to call out his name, to stop him, but she was too weak, her voice came out only in a whisper.

Her eyes widened in absolute dread and her heart seemed to stop beating in her chest when he caught her lips in a kiss. Her first reaction was to close her mouth, but it was too late, his tongue already slipped into her mouth. The unwanted intrusion made her want to gag; she could still taste the faint coppery taste of blood, her own blood, and that didn't make her feel comfortable at all.

She brought up her hands blindly in front of her, hitting his chest, his shoulders, whatever part of him that was in her reach with the remains of her strength, only to have her wrists caught in a firm grip and pinned down on the sides of her head. She tried to free them from his grip, but the more she struggled the more he gripped her wrists until she felt they might bruise. She was barely able to breathe or to think; she could see darkness hovering at the edges of her vision. Eventually she had no strength left to fight him off.

She inhaled a sharp breath the moment he pulled away from her lips, now slightly swollen from his rough kiss, filling her oxygen-deprived lungs. He continued his trail down her throat, landing open-mouthed kisses that made her inwardly scream of the wrongness of the situation. She bit her lips, scrunching her eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge what was happening to her, but the feel of his heated mouth landing open-mouthed kisses on her exposed skin, the feel of his wet tongue trailing down her body, his calloused hands caressing and seizing her soft flesh were too real, too real not to be true.

_This wasn't happening. This wasn't supposed to happen_. She dug her nails deep into the carpeted floor, her knuckles turning white as everything fully dawned on her.

This wasn't Zero she knew. Zero wouldn't do this to her, not to anyone. And not like this, not like this.

Those thoughts were running in her head as she felt his mouth and tongue and teeth scraping against her exposed skin, leaving marks on her body. It was rough and possessive, almost feral, as if he was purely driven by instincts with the only purpose in mind to devour and possess her completely. A pained gasp escaped her lips everytime his ministrations went too rough on her frail body, but she could not deny the feel of pleasure that came along the pain.

The sensation he brought upon her was too much for her too bear, she could feel her vision getting blurry, her consciousness slipping away. She was breathing heavily, her breasts rose and fell rapidly as she tried to fill her lungs with air. She could hear her own heartbeat loud in her ears, beating wildly against her ribcage. She felt as if she was burning inside and out, beads of perspiration decorated and glistened her skin along with the red marks scattered all over her abused body.

She knew she couldn't hold out any longer. She would lose her consciousness anytime soon, and she never welcomed it as much as now, willing herself to be taken away from this nightmare. When she felt a sharp, searing pain tearing into her, threatening to rip her apart; her body jerked upwards, her eyes widened, her lips formed a silent scream then, her body shuddered and stilled.

Before darkness pulled her under, the last thing she saw was raw pain and longing behind wild silver eyes.

I

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I

Harsh breathing rang loud and clear across the expanse of the silent apartment. A figure could be seen crouching on his hands and knees. His body was completely bare, glistening with sweat; his shoulders moved up and down rapidly with every breath; his silvery bangs fell over his eyes, obscuring his expression. Beneath the lean figure was another figure with a smaller frame, lying on her back. Her hands were on the sides of her head, her palms up; her head was thrown sideways against the carpeted floor; her long golden waves were spread messily, some fell on her cheek, framing her delicate face; her eyes were closed. There was no sign of movement.

Slowly, the silver-haired man's breathing evened out, leaving complete silence reign over the area, save for the sound of pouring rain outside. He seemed to blink his eyes few times, as if trying to clear his mind of whatever haze he was in. When his gaze fell upon the still form beneath him, his eyes widened in utter shock.

"No. No. No!" His silver eyes could barely believe the sight that greeted him. The sight of a bruised and battered form of a familiar young woman.

He was horrified to find their state of undress, but was more horrified to find the state she was in. His sharp eyes didn't fail to notice the unhealthy pallor of her skin; the angry, red marks on her body that seemed to glare at him, the familiar twin wounds on her neck and the faint spatter of red between her legs. He looked at himself, at his hands that started to tremble violently with the horrible realization that he was the one who did it to her. He reached out his hand, pressing his trembling fingers on her neck to find the precious sign of life, fearing for the worst.

He could barely breathe until the tips of his fingers found a faint —but otherwise unmistakable— thrum of her heart. He exhaled a relieved breath to find her still alive. However, her pulse was still too weak and her breath was too shallow. He gritted his teeth angrily, unable to hide his disdain to himself. He endlessly cursed himself for letting himself lose control.

What a fool he was! What an utter, complete fool!

She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve this from him. This was the same with taking advantage of her. After everything she had done for him, being the person he could come to and the person to confide in… And this was how he repaid her?

He had betrayed her trust by doing this to her. He would be no different than the people who had hurt her. He would not be any different than the people he despised most.

Never had he felt such anger and hatred towards himself until this very moment.

Forcefully he repressed his turbulent emotions. He could wallow in his self-pity later, right now, she was much more important. The first thing he did was to recover their clothes that were scattered across the living area, his was still intact, while hers was badly damaged, most likely his doing. He tried to keep his emotions under control, but it was proven difficult when everytime he turned around he kept seeing the signs of his failure, the evidence of the unforgivable things he had done to her. Their mugs were upturned on the floor, surprisingly intact, their content spilling out. The windows were slightly stained red due to his forceful bite on her neck. The clothes she wore were completely torn apart and thrown haphazardly.

In the end, he decided to use the bathrobe he found in the large bathroom to cover her bare body. He didn't dare to do anything else, even though he wanted to treat her bruises and injuries, but he couldn't trust himself anymore, not with her. After she was decently covered, he gently lifted her up, mindful of her abused body. She was so light and still in his arms that he was afraid that she would break anytime. He carried her to her bedroom, easily finding his way to the bed in the darkness of the room. He carefully laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers on her, his gaze inadvertently fell upon her.

He was the complete opposite of Midas who turned everything he touched into gold; he turned everything he touched into ashes. He would only bring pain and sadness, chaos and destruction. He was no different than an angel of death. He kept hurting people around him, those who only cared for him.

Everyone.

Yagari who lost his right eye. Cross who was forced to give up his dreams of peaceful coexistence in the Academy and return to the job he hated most. Ichiru who gave his life for him. Yuuki who was always forced to choose one and hurt the other. And now, her.

He knew it was best for him to leave and never to appear before her ever again, but he found it excruciatingly difficult. She was not as a constant presence as Yuuki during his rougher years, but she always managed to be there whenever he needed her, even by mere words or presence. He liked the feeling when he was around her, when he could drop all pretenses and ignore the burden upon his shoulders. He had grown to like himself….

Until now.

He distracted himself, before his mind took a darker turn. He pulled out a small round tin container from the inside pocket of his coat and opened the lid. Inside laid several white round tablets that were unlike blood tablets that he regularly took. They were blood replenishing tablets. Hunters were required to bring this along with them, in case of the hunters or the vampire preys being bitten or hurt badly. He turned the container between his thumb and forefinger, hesitating on how to give the tablet to her. He had gone over several options, and only found one best way to do so.

He picked up one of the tablets and put it into his mouth. He reached for a glass of water he placed on the nightstand and drank the water, but didn't swallow it. Without missing a moment, he leaned down and gave her the tablet through his mouth, ensuring the tablet went down her throat. It wasn't without great difficulty for him to pull away from her lips, but he managed. His hand longed to touch her for the last time, but he stopped himself, it was the very same hand that had violated her.

Finally he moved from her side and returned to the living area to start cleaning up the mess. When he rearranged the shifted furniture to its proper place, he accidentally found a stain on the carpet, and by the scent alone he already knew that it was her blood. The reminder nearly brought him on his knees and throw out all of the contents in his stomach. He felt incredibly repulsed of himself. He had to leave, he had to leave _now_.

Before he could hurt her any further.

Zero stood up immediately, and before he could let his doubts influence him, he set his jaws and shoulders and left the apartment, barely leaving any signs that he had ever been there.

I

I

I

The closed eyelids slowly opened, revealing the blue depths hidden behind them. Those usually clear blue eyes seemed unfocused, not completely seeing their surroundings. The owner of those eyes remained motionless on the bed; the only movement coming from her eyelids fluttering weakly as if that alone took a great effort.

On her way to regaining her consciousness, she felt herself being pulled away from the dark, murky depths to the surface, from the utter and complete warmth and comfort to something else entirely. Her eyelids felt heavy, and so were her hands, her legs… Her whole body felt incredibly heavy, as if it wasn't her own. She managed to slowly pry her eyes open with great difficulty. She could barely see anything at the first time, but slowly she was able to make out the outline and the color of her surroundings.

It took her a while to realize that she was in her own bed and in her own room. But the problem was, she didn't remember going to bed and she certainly never felt this way when she woke up from her sleep. Usually she woke up refreshed, but she woke up feeling weak and tired.

Was she sick?

It was the only explanation she could think of why she was on the bed and feeling this way. Wanting to make sure that it was the case, she carefully hoisted herself up, using her hands as leverage, but nearly stumbled in her effort when her hands gave way, barely able to hold her weight. Eventually she managed to sit up on the bed, leaning greatly to the backboard.

A frown appeared on her rather pale face when she noticed that she was in a bathrobe and wearing nothing beneath, suggesting that she just finished bathing. She never went to sleep before changing into her clothes. Everything didn't make sense to her.

The more she tried to remember, the more her head seemed to spin. In response, she tried to shake her head, only to find a painful twinge from her neck. Her hand went out to the source of the pain instinctively, pressing the sore muscles. The slight pressure on her neck brought her flashes of memories and overwhelming sensation of something sharp pricking her neck deeply that almost made her double over, gasping and flinching in pain. Then, she remembered.

She remembered everything.

She remembered how he suddenly took her blood by force, sinking his fangs deep into her neck and drinking her blood with such fervor that threatened her to faint. But faint she didn't, she was awake enough to realize what was happening to her and helpless to stop it. She remembered the feelings that went through her: the pain, the fear, the dread, the helplessness, she remembered the rough and possessive treatment on her that left marks and bruises on her body as if she was experiencing it all over again. She let out a strangled sound, muffled by her hands covering her face when she recalled that sharp, searing pain before she was rendered completely unconscious. She didn't need to confirm with her own eyes to know what the source of the pain was, the pain she felt from between her legs was enough.

However, through all the painful memories, one memory managed to stand out among the others. The memory of silver eyes filled with such raw pain and longing that struck her hard and deep. She knew the look very well, if not too well. She knew how it felt, how it made her want to forget, how it made her desperate for something to fill the void, to lessen the pain.

She remembered the empty look in his eyes when he told her of what happened. And somehow, she understood.

She knew how it felt to lose someone dear to you when you had few people you could consider as such. For Zero who was used to everything dear to him taken away, forced to watch only from the sidelines, losing Yuuki to Kaname was still hard, regardless of the knowledge that it was for the best. It was the same with losing everything for Zero.

She was his escape.

She thought bitterly, she had always been his escape, she had known that since the very beginning. She was where he went to whenever he wanted to forget, to pretend. She had expected it, but she couldn't help to feel sad or hurt everytime he mentioned Yuuki. And she couldn't deny the thought that he might never actually see her then. He might be seeing someone else in her.

Oh how she envied that pureblood princess, she chuckled sadly.

She had seen this coming for a long time, but she had dismissed it. It never occurred it would happen. It never occurred to him that the Zero she knew would go that far. For an Aruda, she was certainly naïve and short sighted, she must be aware that the possibility of this happening existed, despite the chances of it happening was little to none.

If Yuuki was Zero's weakness, Zero was her own.

Although she knew this, although she knew they were never meant to be, she couldn't help but to hold on to him, wanting his strong, steady presence by her side that never failed to make her feel safe and protected. And now, she wouldn't have that presence by her side anymore.

She looked at her hand on her lap, sadness graced her features. A lone tear trickled down her cheek onto the back of her hand, followed by another… and another. She hugged her knees to her chest carefully; her small shoulders shook as she cried silently. Her body felt achingly sore, but it was nothing compared to her heart's pain and anguish. She cried for the loss of her innocence, and for the loss of Zero.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated :)

For better understanding of my character and settings, you can visit my journal here: lilac _dash_ ayame _dot_ livejournal _dot_ com _slash_ 28099 _dot_ html


	2. Chapter 1

Here's officially the first chapter of Shades of Grey that explores more the world of VK as I imagine it to be and the problems that arise from the single mistake. It's a bit shorter than the Prologue, and I'd have to warn you that the length of the chapter might be inconsistent, because I didn't make it in chapters first. Thanks to my reviewers: Heart Reaper (you're the first!), Primal Red (thanks girl :D), Shapby, and Madame le Pluie (I hope you're still reading this).

Special thanks to my editor-slash-beta: Shapby, who complained but still edited my works diligently despite being nagged endlessly by me.

Disclaimer in previous chapter applied to the rest.

~Audriel

* * *

**Chapter 1**

When spring arrived, Parisians had a long and withstanding tradition to head towards their favorite cafes to while away the day on a sunny pavement terrace -a Gallic ritual that began with a cup of strong black coffee in the morning, followed by a _kir_ or _pastis_ at lunchtime, and then chilled rose or a _ballon de blanc _for the evening _apero__-_ and it was a tradition that was more often than not adopted by the foreign students who were currently pursuing their studies in the well-known city. Two of the three young ladies who were currently sitting on the pavement terrace of a small café were a testament to that.

The two possessed distinctive features that identified their foreign origins, unlike their redhead companion who possessed features easily recognized in Parisians. One was a dark-haired beauty with a unique complexion that one usually found in Eastern Europe with a sharp nose and thin lips and a perfect face. The other was more of Western European descent with her blonde hair and blue eyes, but there was a touch of Asia in her features. Despite the distinctive features, it was difficult to precisely identify their nationalities.

Back in olden times, when the world was ruled by monarchs, people and cultures came together and eventually learned to live together side by side while retaining their identities or create completely new cultures that couldn't be found in any other places. The reign of a monarchy often reached far and beyond their own territory, sometimes crossing seas and oceans. As such, the nations and continents that we knew of now barely existed, allowing people to make journeys from one part of the world to another while bringing along their culture. It wasn't an unusual occurrence to find a person whom by all appearance should be of a certain nation in actuality was of another. It wouldn't be a surprise if the supposedly foreign students later revealed to be nothing foreign.

However, in this case, the two of the three students were actually of foreign nationalities. The dark-haired one was of Jordan, one of the nations that was well-known for its women's beauty. She was wearing a simple blouse and knee-length skirt with a slit on the side, so when she crossed her legs, one could admire those finely-shaped long legs. While the fair-haired one was of Japan. She was wearing a beige turtleneck shirt with a white pleated skirt that reached just past her knees, watching the arguments between the dark-haired Jordanian and red-headed Parisian in amusement.

Misaki couldn't hide her smile watching the sarcastic remarks that wasn't expected to come from someone as beautiful as Sonia and the annoyed retorts from Tanya who had resorted to cruder French that only natives could get away with. They always made quite a scene, the three of them together, with their contrasting features and personalities. Who would have thought they would end up as best friends?

It all started from one single apartment, the very apartment they now shared together. The three of them fell in love with the apartment, not only because of its strategic position that was not far from their universities and the wonderful environment filled with warm people, but also of the apartment itself. They knew they couldn't afford the apartment, but they never quite stopped hoping that they could, until she met Sonia by accident and came up with the idea of roommates. And so the three of them got together and move in to the apartment.

The early days were filled with uncomfortable silences and awkward interactions, Sonia being the distant person she was, and her being the shy person she was, both of them were rarely the one who opened up first, at least not without some push. And that push came in form of the cheerful Tanya who ceaselessly tried to get them know each other.

At first, Tanya clashed badly with Sonia who rebuffed every single attempt she made after a huge misunderstanding in their early relationship. Eventually Misaki decided to get involved, not wanting to live under the strained atmosphere until she graduated. She managed to smooth things over, being the middle ground between the two strong personalities, but it took quite a while for them to finally get comfortable with each other and become friends as they were now. Now, the two's arguments were more of a playful banter between friends, despite the strong words.

Really. Sometimes she wondered how she ended up with them, of all people.

"Guys, could you stop arguing?" Misaki spoke up after they were about to start another argument, knowing that the other would try to even the score. As much as she found amusement in their arguments, sometimes it grated her nerves, especially when she was tired after finishing the course load for this semester. She felt really tired after a certain project required for the completion of the semester that took a lot out of her.

At this interruption, the two immediately moved their attention to the third party and didn't fail to notice the slightly pinched look in their friend's face.

"Ah sorry, Misaki," Tanya was quick to apologize, her face didn't conceal her concern.

"Are you alright?" Sonia's green eyes seemed to bore through her, the same look she usually reserved for most difficult people. It made her quite uneasy and unnerved at first, but Misaki was getting used to it.

"I just want to sit back and relax," Misaki waved her hand dismissively, "As much as I enjoy your banter, I'm not currently in the mood. I have a different way to relieve my stress."

That statement earned chuckles from the other two who didn't deny that their arguments were indeed one of their ways to relieve the stress after the hectic semester. Sonia had a major disagreement with one of her professors. Sonia had a way of rubbing people the wrong way, the same way she could easily charm them. Being the perfectionist she was, Sonia rather obsessed in proving him wrong and she became hard to live with, Misaki and Tanya had to carefully tread around her until she finally settled down. Tanya had family problems that required her to switch back and forth between her hometown and Paris, nearly disrupting her studies.

"Yeah, that's one hell of a semester," Tanya seemed to be thinking of the same thing.

"Agreed," Sonia quipped, for agreeing with the sentiment and for the sake of catching Tanya off guard for agreeing with her, when they rarely agreed on anything. It had the intended effect on Tanya, and Misaki saw the satisfied glint in the future diplomat's eyes. Misaki inwardly sighed, Sonia really had a habit of pushing people's buttons. It was a wonder how she could get away so easily.

"Excuse me," a waiter appeared next to their table, "Cappuccino."

"That's me," Sonia spoke up.

"Cold dark and white chocolate."

"Mine!" Tanya quipped, while Sonia had a look of disbelief that made Misaki chuckle. Not only the redhead had sweet tooth, she also had quite an appetite that couldn't be seen with her slim figure, a fact that Sonia could hardly get over. It might be partly because Sonia had to work harder to keep her figure.

"Chamomile tea."

"Bitter?" Misaki asked the waiter.

"Bitter," the waiter confirmed.

"Thank you," the fair-haired young woman accepted the warm cup with a smile.

"Bitter?" that caught the attention of her tablemates, knowing her tea preference. It was rather unheard of her to ask for a bitter tea.

"My stomach doesn't cooperate with me lately."

"You tend to skip your meals when you're working on projects," Sonia observed calmly, sipping her beverage elegantly, which was almost how she did everything.

"That might be it," Misaki admitted.

"Have you taken anything for it?" Tanya asked, tasting the sweet foam floating on the top of the glass.

"Uhm," Misaki sipped her tea slowly, feeling the warmth settling in her stomach.

"Cabbage. _Or_ ginger," Tanya casually commented, earning her looks from her friends. Tanya tended to speak out odd things usually related to whatever they were talking about, although not necessarily related to the topics; it might be to something else others said while talking about the topic. For instance, they could be talking about their studies and their professors; suddenly Tanya talked about fishing, just because one of her professors once mentioned it to her.

"I mean, you can try eating cabbage or adding ginger to your tea," fortunately, Tanya learned to elaborate, "My sister did that when she was having her first child."

"Oh, really?" Sonia maintained the odd look at Tanya and Tanya gave her attention to her skeptical friend, so they failed to notice the slight tension that appeared on Misaki.

"Yup. She had this worst morning sickness ever, going to the bathroom every single morning, then feeling nauseous almost all the time. She nearly didn't eat at all. Luc was so worried that he looked up for every way to make her eat, including cabbage and ginger. And it worked, my sister felt better. My stomach certainly felt better when I tried it."

"You _tried_ it?" Sonia gave an incredulous look.

"Well, the smell was kinda tempting, so thought I'd give it a try," Tanya answered simply.

"You're really something, aren't you? You practically eat everything as long as it's edible."

"Hey, not _everything_!"

For once, Misaki was relieved that they returned to their bickering. She needed their attention away from her for a while to process this sudden thought that occurred to her when Tanya mentioned of her pregnant sister. It couldn't be, could it? It was just one time.

However, she couldn't dismiss the possibility easily. She'd been feeling unwell for sometime now. There were times she felt completely nauseous and was unable to drink or eat anything. It didn't happen frequently so she paid little heed to it, being so focused in the completion of her studies. And most of all, she hadn't had her period for weeks.

She had blamed it on the stress, it wasn't the first time that she got late period due to mounting stress, but that was in the past, the circumstances were different now. She couldn't be so sure anymore, considering what happened between her and Zero few weeks prior to the symptoms. She would be showing by now she knew, but there were women who didn't show before their later months.

"Look! That's Philippe!" Suddenly Tanya's pitched squeal broke her out of her musing. And the three girls turned their heads at the direction of their friend's gaze which fell upon a dark-haired man about their age walking with his friends, most likely students like they were.

"That's _the_ Philippe? _The _Philippe you've been talking about for these five months?" Sonia strained her eyes to have a better look at the man Tanya had been infatuated with.

Misaki gladly took the man that caught her friend's eye and became an endless source of topic for the redhead as a distraction. Along with Sonia, she studied the man known as Philippe. He was pretty tall, as expected, taller than Tanya. Tanya had made it clear that she only wanted men who were taller than her, which wouldn't be too difficult, considering Tanya's height. He had his hair in that usual get-out-of-bed look that somehow worked on him. He was wearing a short-sleeved button up with jeans and Converse sneakers, looking completely laid back. He wasn't bad looking, Misaki admitted, but finally got it when he laughed out loud at his friends' antics.

Ah, that.

She looked at Tanya to see whether she was right, and she was. Tanya's amber eyes seemed to sparkle at the sight of his carefree laugh and the dimples that followed. Her friend also had a thing for dimples, although she didn't admit it.

"Not bad, but definitely not my type." Misaki had expected that comment from Sonia, which pretty much translated: I didn't think he was as great as you thought he was, but hey, it was not my problem. She thought that it was already pretty considerate of Sonia not to say it out loud, though it wouldn't offend Tanya anymore.

It took a whole lot to impress Sonia, she had pretty high standards for the men she would date or simply go out with. It kind of helped that Sonia herself was pretty much a high standard herself, a straight A student of the best university in France with looks to die for. The first thing they had had to get used to when they had moved in together was the calls for Sonia that had never came from the same person and sometimes came at the oddest hours when they needed their sleep, which was the source of the great misunderstanding between Tanya and Sonia.

"He's definitely your type," Misaki told her opinion and was rewarded with such a bright and infectious smile that made her smile back at the infatuated girl.

"So… Have you tried asking him out?" Sonia leaned her chin on her hand, looking genuinely interested. Tanya seemed to deflate at this; a slight pout replaced her smile.

"I tried to, but he seemed to get it the wrong way," Tanya sighed.

"Well, boys can be pretty dense at times," Sonia stated this more as a fact.

"But you still have a chance, don't you?" Misaki tried to lift her friend's spirits up, "You're pretty close to him."

"Well yeah. Not as close as I wanted to, but I'm working on it." From her tone of words, Misaki knew Tanya would be fine. "So how about you Misaki?"

"Huh?" Once again, Misaki was caught off guard with the sudden change of topics.

"Well, you know that this mean lady-" Tanya gestured at their dark-haired friend, who merely raised another eyebrow at the name calling, "-could get any date she wants pretty easily. How about you? Is there anyone you want to go out with?"

Misaki blinked few times, the question was certainly unexpected, but not entirely unexpected coming from Tanya. She had always been the more outspoken one when it came to things like this.

"I'm not interested in anyone," Misaki answered carefully.

"Really? You have quite a share of admirers, you know?" Sonia butted in, then noticing the slight frown on her face, she elaborated, "The one who walked you home… that clean-cut guy, the one who went to offer you a ride to buy your stuff…"

"Ah I know him, Marte- Marti- Martinelli!" Tanya added.

"…the one who called you at home, that Dutch guy…"

"They're just friends," Misaki stopped Sonia; she didn't need her friend to list all the guys who gave her more attention. She wasn't that oblivious, but she couldn't feel comfortable around them. Eventually she was forced to draw a line and fortunately they respected that.

"It's not that they're not nice, but I suppose it's just… I don't know, I don't think we'll be more…"

"Really? None of them? No one?" Tanya frowned, not quite believing that there was no one that caught her friend's interest among those guys.

"How about that silver-haired guy? That high-school friend of yours," Sonia didn't miss a beat.

"Zero?" Misaki spoke his name without thinking, and nearly bit her tongue when she realized whose name she just said.

"You call him by name," Sonia pointed out, "And he visited you far from Japan."

"Because he had duties around here," Misaki clarified, almost defensively. It had been a natural reaction whenever Sonia spoke of the hunter. There was always an underlying tone of disdain in her friend's voice, despite the usual flat tone Sonia often adopted. Somehow, Sonia grew some sort of animosity towards the silver-haired man who did nothing but exchange few words with her. Until now, she still hadn't really figured it out.

"You spent a great deal of time with him when he came to visit," Sonia brought forth another argument. In these times, she could tell the qualities that made Sonia a good diplomat and she could admire the keen observation her friend made, if only she wasn't the subject.

"There aren't many people I know around here, let alone from Japan. Of course, I did. Wouldn't you if a friend of yours from Jordan came to visit?" Somehow she managed to say this with a straight face, although she knew that it was different.

Sonia looked at her for a moment, not saying anything, but eventually pursed her lips.

"I suppose," the Jordanian shrugged.

From the tone alone Misaki knew Sonia didn't fully buy her words, but she didn't push, it was more than enough for her.

"You're gonna tell us though, if you find someone you're interested in," Tanya tilted her head, posing the statement more like a question.

"Alright," Misaki nodded in admission, but rather half-heartedly.

I

I

I

Later the fair-haired woman was seen walking on her own to the direction of her apartment with bags of groceries in her hands. After they decided to get back home, Misaki told the other girls to head first, telling them that she would buy some groceries first to make dinner for them, since the others had let her off the responsibility during the hectic weeks. The thought of Misaki's cooking was enough for them to let her go on her own, most likely because they were already bored with each other's cooking, considering they had limited recipes the three of them liked. She didn't miss Sonia's critical look when she told them that she would do the shopping by herself.

Sonia might be distant to others, but she was always aware of her surroundings. The awareness was rarely seen because she didn't act upon it. She wouldn't intrude on others, so she expected others would do the same to her. Sonia reminded her of a certain hunter in that respect. Her steps faltered at the thought.

And there it happened: her thoughts came back to him.

After that certain day, she tried hard not to think of him. She tried to get rid of him from her thoughts and heart. However, it was proven impossible in the first week when everything was still vivid in her mind and her body, the bruises were evident on her skin and that certain marks on her neck couldn't be ignored that easily. During that healing period, she rarely left the apartment and started wearing more closed clothes, or at the least, closed tops with long sleeves and less open shoulders. She rarely wore her hair up anymore.

At first it was to hide her bruises, but eventually it became a habit. It became some sort of barrier or protection for her. Sometimes she wondered if she hadn't exposed her neck so much that day, would've he still been tempted to drink her blood? Would other vampires be tempted to drink her blood too?

When she passed by a vampire in the streets in one of the days when she dared to go out, her initial reaction was to cover her neck and run, although she knew that the vampire would not harm her, not even noticing her. When she finally got back to the apartment safely, she realized how fast her heart was beating and how afraid she was. She always managed to keep herself calm, as it was important for an Aruda to remain in control of her own emotions, in order to maintain their judgment neutral and objective. In her mind, having such fears to the vampires was irrational and definitely imprudent, if she was to make interventions.

And then, there was when her friends returned from their holidays. She had looked forward for them, not wanting to be alone in the place where it happened. However, when Tanya came forward and hugged her tightly just like she always did, she couldn't help but tensed up at the contact and nearly pushed her friend away when Tanya was about to greet her with _bise _on each cheek. It was only because of her tight rein on her emotions, honed by the years, that she didn't give away her distress.

Not only she had irrational fears, she also had difficulty in physical contact. She forced herself to face them, daring herself to remain in the presence of vampires as long as she could, to initiate and receive physical contact. It was difficult, especially when her friends weren't aware of her problems. However, it wasn't something she was willing to share with.

She couldn't really explain of the real nature of Zero, of vampires and of hunters. She couldn't tell them completely what happened. She knew how they would react; they had become so close to each other that they were sisters in all but blood. She was afraid of their reaction. She was afraid that they would hate Zero.

It was odd, she thought, that she didn't want them to hate Zero.

_She_ should have hated Zero, if not already. But she didn't, she couldn't.

That day might tell her that she didn't know everything about Zero, but everything didn't mean she knew nothing of him. She knew for one thing the reason why he left without saying a word was not because of his lack of feelings, but because of his load of emotions. The state of herself was the testament to that, and then the state of the apartment.

She could see him in her mind, trying to clean up the mess, trying to undo his wrongdoings, trying to make things right, but finding himself failing and pulling himself further into himself. Her visions of him confirmed her of this. The sight of him that way broke her heart, because she was also at loss what to do.

Biting her lips to hold back the rising sob from her throat, she regulated her breathing to prevent her from breaking down in the middle of the street. When she finally regained some semblance of calm, her eyes stumbled on a certain signpost that made her freeze. For a while she only stood there, staring at the place until she reached a resolution and seemed to gather herself as she walked to the direction of the signpost.

"Good day. What can I help you?" A lady behind the counter immediately greeted her when she entered the clean and neat store.

"Can I have some pregnancy test packs, please?"

I

I

I

She didn't touch the test packs after she bought it, hiding it in a drawer next to her bed and gave her full attention to the dinner preparation for tonight, leaving it momentarily forgotten. The dinner was a casual and comfortable affair. The three bantered with each other playfully, and ended up watching movies together while enjoying a liter of cookies 'n cream-flavored ice cream together on the couch. She let herself relax and push the thoughts that kept coming back at the box she bought earlier and kept in her drawer, now that she found her appetite again.

"Let's get to rest," it was Sonia who broke the silence, "You haven't had enough rest lately." She gave Misaki that scolding look that told her that she would not accept any protest.

"We'll take care of the dishes," Tanya chirped, pulling her up from the couch, away from the kitchen and the dining room.

"But-" her first reaction was as they expected, she always tended to help her friends with the dishes, whether it was her schedule or not.

Sonia simply pushed her from the back, "No, no, no… No protesting."

"Alright, alright!" Misaki flailed her hands, giving up. She knew that this was not a fight that she could win. "I'll have a long nice bath and then I'll go to sleep. Okay?"

"Sounds good," the two friends with different personality nodded approvingly together in one of the rare times they agreed on something, to her surprise and amusement. Trying to avoid further disagreement, she immediately went to her room to take her necessities and went into the bathroom.

After turning on the water tap, as she waited for the tub to fill, she took out a box slipped between the folds of the towel she carried. She opened the box after few moments of hesitation then she pulled out two test packs.

She sat on the toilet seat motionlessly; her hands were clenching and unclenching nervously on her lap. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't know how she felt about all of this. She was tempted to see the future, but she knew that the future she saw would do little to help her. The future she saw could give her directions, telling her what she should do, but it couldn't tell her how she should _feel_.

The sounds of the water leaking out of the tub broke her train of thoughts; she immediately stopped the water before it could spill all over the tiles. When she absently returned to the sink to dry her hands, barely aware of the test packs by the sink, her eyes fell on the two and the signs that appeared on it. Her eyes widened in surprise, her throat involuntarily closed, letting out a strangled gasp. Her hand tried to muffle the sounds coming from her, while the other instinctively went above her stomach.

She could not remove her eyes from the two blue strips appeared on each of the test packs, even as she slowly staggered backward and fell on her knees. The coldness of the bathroom tiles bit the exposed skin of her legs, telling her that it was completely real.

She was pregnant.

Her child…

…And Zero's.

She sat on the cold floor of the bathroom, completely stunned with the unexpected twist in her life. She usually could see things happening, or at least feel it enough to give her any warning, but there were times when she couldn't see anything, especially when it came to herself. She tended to avoid seeing her own future when she could. She wondered whether it was best for her not to do so anymore, that she failed to see this coming.

Fear gripped her as she thought of the changes this would bring to her. She was still studying and living abroad, away from her homeland where it was more familiar and safe compared to where she was. She wondered how she would give birth to this child and raise him. And she wondered whether and how she would tell the father of her child or not.

Suddenly she saw flashes of image in her mind, so fast and sudden that it completely caught her off guard, nearly making her tumble forward. When it was over, her eyes were wide and her hands were wound around her abdomen protectively.

_Twins. It's twins._

She repeated those words to herself in a mixture of awe and disbelief. She could not shake the image of two young children looking at her with her very own eyes and their startling resemblance with Zero.

_Another pair of Kiryuu twins_… She never heard of successive twins in two generations of Kiryuu family. Twins themselves were a rarity in the family of hunters that was the reason the Kiryuu twins were so renowned. She did have a lineage of twins in her family, though.

Her mother was a twin herself, although her aunt didn't live long enough through childhood. Both of them were weak-bodied, it was a miracle that her mother managed to live long enough to marry and have five healthy children before her health finally declined after giving birth to her, to her last child.

She had heard somewhere that the chances of women having twins were higher when their mother was twins herself. It seemed that it was true. However, she didn't expect to have Kiryuu twins just in her first time. Slowly tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down on her cheeks unbidden. For the first time in a long time, she was completely at loss.

I

I

I

Zero walked down the hallways of the base of Hunters Association that he grew to know as well as the back of his own hand. It was late midnight; the halls were dark and deserted. The only lighting was provided by the burning torches attached to the stone walls whose dancing fire made the shadows around it moved, including his own. But it didn't bother him the slightest bit, he kept moving noiselessly along the pathway, blending perfectly with the shadows as if he was a mere illusion.

Sometimes he hated this certain aspect of vampire that made him prefer the nights to the days, kept him awake in such late hours, lessened his need to sleep where he could escape from reality for once. However, his sleep was no longer peaceful, no longer providing the escape he needed. He kept dreaming of that day, of that night with _her._

He would remember the time when she walked by his side, talking about nothing and everything. When she looked around her with such wide eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed, her lips formed in content smile. When she was so close to him that her shoulders brushed with his. When she looked at him with such patience and understanding that made him completely at ease.

He always had that dream, but it never stopped there. He could never truly recall what happened after the sudden hunger that came over him. However, when he fell asleep, he found himself starting to remember every single details of what he did to her. When he woke up, everything eluded him once again. And that was what happened, over and over again.

He might not remember what happened that night, but he certainly remembered the torrent of feelings coursing through him so strong that nearly overwhelmed him.

Hunger. Satisfaction. Desperation. Excitement. Lust. Longing. Desire. Pleasure.

And what horrified him most was there was no guilt or remorse among those feelings. He actually took _pleasure_ of his doing!

How could she forgive him? How could _he_ forgive himself!

The moment he returned from Paris, he headed back to his apartment that wasn't far from the headquarters before going to his office to assume his duties. He ended up tearing apart his apartment, throwing every single thing he found against the wall or the floors, tearing the curtains and wallpapers, breaking the glass and porcelains until there was nothing left, but his anger. And to vent it out, he resorted on punching the walls until his hands were bruised and battered.

When the anger ebbed away, he was slumped against the wall tiredly in the destroyed apartment, pain and anguish made themselves known, replacing the released anger. He didn't know how long he sat there on the floor, breathing heavily, looking blankly at nowhere. He felt like crying, but he had forgotten how it felt to cry, to have tears running down his face. He didn't deserve such luxury.

In the end, he chose to throw himself to his work, trying to occupy himself as much as possible so he couldn't and wouldn't think of her. He knew that Cross and Yagari were greatly concerned with his behavior but he couldn't bring himself to ask for their help. This was something he must fully bear by himself.

What scared him most from that night was not what he did, but it was what he _nearly_ did.

He nearly _killed_ her.

She nearly _died,_ because of _him_.

And the thought of losing her because of him was so unbearable that he wanted to die. The only thing held him back was his sense of responsibility and the people he still cared about.

He could recall every single mark and every single bruise on her body until this day. He could recall the paleness and coldness of her skin, the shallow breathing and the faint heartbeat against his fingertips. He could recall the stillness and the lightness of her body as he carried her.

But he also recalled the slight brush with her lips when he gave her the tablet.

He could recall the softness of her lips against his. And there were times when he absently touched his lips when that memory came up. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it. It was what he had left of her.

Because of the nightmares, sleep didn't come easily to him. Usually when he overworked himself he would find himself asleep in dreamless sleep and awake in the morning. The thoughts of her rarely came when it was mornings somehow. However, this time he found himself awake few hours before dawn, and he couldn't bring himself to sleep nor to continue working, so here he was, walking along in the dark hallways aimlessly, trying not to think.

Whenever he felt like this, he would call her or come to her. And she would comfort him by her own way just by simple words, by simple action that always managed to give him the answer he needed although it might take time for him to realize it.

It made him realize how much that he relied on her, and in a way, more than he used to rely on Yuuki, because he rarely sought Yuuki when he needed her, but he sought Misaki when he needed her. It only made it worse for him when he thought of this. It made his mistake much worse.

He missed her.

Painfully so.

I

I

I

A feminine figure could be seen sitting in the bathtub; her body was hunched forward, her arms hugged her abdomen protectively, her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks were wet. She didn't know how long she had been in that position. It could be seconds or minutes or hours, if the lack of feeling on her legs was any indication. She ended up crying again after trying hard to compose herself at this surprising turn of event.

She wanted to laugh at herself, seeing the state she was in. She had been through so many ordeals in her life and managed to smile through it, yet this matter involving Zero seemed to always manage to get her in tears. She wiped her eyes with one hand.

She learned to keep herself as detached as possible in most ordeals she encountered, but what happened to her now, it was impossible to be detached about. It was regarding her own feelings and her own flesh and blood. She would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid. She was afraid for herself who was unprepared for motherhood. She was also deathly afraid of the fate of her children.

The future she saw of them already made her worried of their well being. She wasn't sure whether she would be able to prevent the future she had seen on her own. She had failed to prevent this from happening, how would she prevent her children's fate?

She knew her own limits; especially this wouldn't be just any stranger or any other person's fate that she had to intervene with. She saw him in her vision, but she didn't know how he would end up in their future.

It didn't matter, she thought to herself, shedding the remains of tears on her face. It was still in faraway future, she had to make sure she carried her children to term first. The future was still uncertain, and her children might not the children she expected. If Zero was meant to be a part of their future, then it shall be it.

There were times when it was best to let time run its own course without any interference. She thought this was one of those times. She stared on her own hands beneath the scented water and suddenly she splashed the warm water into her face.

_Come what may._

Her clear blue eyes that were once filled with fear and uncertainty retained its radiance once again, glimmering with quiet resolve and familiar calm.

* * *

And so, what do you think of this chapter? What will happen next with this? I hope I managed to keep it as realistic as possible.

Leave a review guys! Thanks for reading :D


	3. Chapter 2

Here's the new chapter!

Thanks to my beta, Shapby, and my friend, Primal Red who kindly dropped review when I asked them to XD I wonder where the others are, hopefully still following this story at least.. because the story is getting interesting :D

~Audriel

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Misaki was enjoying the long break from the hustle bustle that was known as university. She decided to indulge herself by spending her time outside from the mornings after having a French breakfast, courtesy of the native French roommate with her friends in the apartment, and telling them her plans to check out the art exhibition in _Musée National d'Art Moderne_ and visit _La Galerie D'Architecture_.

She intended to get back to the apartment before it was dark so she could join the _Balfolk_ that was going to start few hours before midnight. She was excited to join in the newly-initiated folk festival, especially with the chance to learn and watch traditional folk dances.

Her friends simply exchanged knowing looks towards each other when she made it as if they were as excited as she was at the opportunity. They were aware that among the three of them, she was the one who was excited the most to join the festival. She didn't fail to notice the look of relief hidden behind their eyes, seeing the enthusiasm back in her.

She had yet to tell them of her condition, wanting to settle few things first with herself. She hid her fears and doubts well enough, but she knew that they felt something off nonetheless. That was the thing with girlfriends. It was the reason why she decided to do this, so she could remind herself that there was still more to life.

That was the plan. Or at least, she thought it was.

She managed not to stay too long at the art exhibition, reminded by her hungry stomach. But as she laid eyes on the new architecture books in _La Galerie D'Architecture_, a whole section of the kind of books she had been looking for in the library, she couldn't help herself. She moved from one shelf to another. From one stack to another. If she could, she wanted to borrow all the books.

However, there were limitations of how many books she could borrow and carry back home. Thus most of the time was spent choosing which books she would read in the library and which she would borrow. And she also made a stop at the bookshop where she browsed through the books she would likely need during the next semester, and bought some of them, adding more weight into her large bag she fortunately had the habit to take whenever she went to _La Galerie D'Architecture_.

All the while, she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that she was being watched. She tried to catch anything out of ordinary from the corner of her eyes, but she found nothing. There were no alarming flashes of image of yet, so she dared to walk by herself to the direction of the shared apartment, even as darkness slowly descended upon the city. When she took a turn to a small street, her steps faltered.

The street was oddly deserted; no sign of people passing by as if there was an invisible barrier that made no one chose to take this street. She immediately tensed when she heard slow and steady steps of shoes against the pavement. Slowly she turned towards the direction of the only person besides her in this street, finding a well-dressed man in his forties. He walked calmly to her, only stopping few steps before her to give a measure of privacy. He smiled politely and gave a slight bow that was often given from a gentleman to a lady.

"_Excusez moi_, do you happen to be _mademoiselle_ Hisakawa?"

There was no immediate answer, Misaki watched the man warily. She couldn't really figure out why a man suddenly appeared to address her. At first, she was tempted to answer that he got the wrong person, but she knew that the question was purely rhetorical and simply out of courtesy. Her eyes slightly narrowed, the man was no ordinary human.

"What can I do, _monsieur_?" her voice rang loud and clear in the silence, not giving away her feelings.

"Well, I'm sorry with the inconvenience, but you're making it difficult for me to talk to you…"

He wore a monocle on his right eye. The first thought in her mind was he was a noble or at least an underling of a noble. He slowly stepped forward to her direction, his hands spread apart as a gesture of well intention –-though she knew that it contrasted greatly with his need to meet her in the intentionally made-to-be deserted street to simply talk to _her_.

Despite the urge to step backward to keep the distance between them, she remained unmoving; her eyes stared straight into the man's eyes.

"If you want to talk with me, why can't we somewhere else? You've chosen the oddest place to talk. I think you're the one who make it difficult, _monsieur,_" she spoke with impeccable French.

"True. True…" He chuckled, though his eyes held no mirth.

"So what do you want to talk about? I need to be somewhere else."

"Well, I want to ask you about the man you've been seen with?" She tried not to show any kind of reaction at the question.

"What man?" Her tone was sincerely curious, although she was aware of whom the man might mean.

"A Japanese man… A tall silver-haired man with a tattoo on his neck." He gestured casually with his hand of the description.

"You mean Kiryuu?" She cautiously avoided using his first name.

"Ah, yes. Kiryuu…" The man spoke as if he just knew the name of the man he was looking for.

"Who is he?"

"Just my former senior in school. Why would it matter?"

"It matters. Because what kind of senior would visit his junior if he is required to cross great distance to do it?" She couldn't ignore the feeling of the déjà vu the words incited. It held the same sentiment Sonia gave her way, but somehow, she had the feeling that the same answer wouldn't satisfy this man.

"Because he happened to be nearby?" she shrugged carelessly while discretely assessing her surroundings to plan an escape.

"Ah, that was so nice of him, wasn't it?" He smiled and took another step closer to her, "But that's not what we think, _mademoiselle._"

Suddenly he was within arms' length, his smile seemed more menacing as he calmly explained, "Your senior is the president of Hunters' Association whose duty was to exterminate beings named as vampires."

"Vampires?" she tried to sound incredulous, taking a small step behind to maintain the distance.

"Yes, _vampires_… And the most interesting thing is… that he is one himself and yet he has done more damage to the vampires than his predecessors by that very strength that was blessed to him as a vampire. Having the blood of the pureblood and hunter in his veins, he becomes a danger to the ones who created him, who gave him that power… He must be stopped. However… he has no weakness… he has nothing we can exploit. He has no family. His closest people are mostly capable hunters, until we found out about his random visits to Paris."

The man was getting too close to comfort; he casually pulled off his white gloves as he explained. He tilted his head, a triumphant smile on his face,

"And I have reports of his sightings with a young woman. That young woman… is _you_, _mademoiselle_."

"So? It doesn't mean anything." She kept her face as normal as one could when someone asked her such things without having any meaning behind it.

"Oh, it does," he clucked his tongue, "every vampire has his or her unique scent in their blood, so when that vampire doesn't only feed on their victim…"

Suddenly, he disappeared from her sight and she felt a sharp pain on her arm.

A drop of blood fell on the wet floor of the alley.

"Your blood has his scent on you." A whisper on her ear.

Fortunately she had seen this coming and before he could grab her, she already ducked from his reach and slipped through him. She ran at full strength and not in straight line, knowing that with vampires' speed and agility he could easily catch up to her if she was to be predictable. Sharply, she took a right turn right before he appeared next to her. She couldn't hide a smirk as she heard a loud noise of impact and a slight pained voice. A sudden vision appeared before her, forcing her to drop down right before a clawed hand could hurt her.

Another vampire!

She added more speed into her run, while cursing herself for not taking a taxi home and choosing her usual shortcut home, which was quite in a distance from the main street. It was usually safer than the streets, knowing the people around the vicinity, but now the area was deserted because of the festival. However, she knew the area better than her pursuers, so she wouldn't need to think to walk through the mazes of the area and could focus more on her foresight. In addition, the natural environment would help to cover her scent if what he said was true. A slight frown marred her features as she recalled his words.

Did he mean that she drank Zero's blood?

But she didn't drink his blood, she was sure of that. Or…

She thought of the life growing within her… Could it be because of her children? No, she shook her head; she learned that during pregnancy, the blood of the child didn't mix with of the mother. But the children would likely inherit their father's vampire blood that could end up in her system, and that was the only explanation she had.

She had no time to ponder on this. She had roughly torn the end of her dress to clean up the blood out of the cut on her arm and threw it away, taking another torn piece to dress her wound while running. Inwardly she hoped that it was enough to hide her scent. She hid herself into bushes, trying to catch her breath and gather more information regarding her pursuers. She knew there were more than one, but she didn't know how many and the darkness made it no easier to distinguish ordinary human and vampire.

Her hand flew on her stomach. Although its appearance didn't show the signs of life within, she could feel the slight swell under her fingertips. It was good enough that the person only went as far as suspecting her drinking Zero's blood, and her attempt in evading them this long would pretty much support that suspicion. It would be very bad if they came to the conclusion that she shared the blood through the children in her womb.

Suddenly, she stiffened in her place, ceasing her thoughts. The sounds of crickets and bugs that usually could be heard throughout the night were suddenly gone. And she knew it meant one thing.

Her pursuers were here.

She remained still, keeping her breathing silent and her senses alert. The vampires were no different than predators in the wild. They could be as silent as they wanted to in order to seize their prey. She had no choice but to rely on her foresight.

Suddenly a hand pierced through the bushes in front of her, staggering her back but before she could move further, realizing this was their plan, she ran to the side of the bushes, getting away from them safely.

"Get her!"

She took a wild turn to a small alley that appeared to act also as a storing place which she used to scattered about on the alley to slow them down. When she narrowly dodged a basket thrown at her, a man stood before her and grabbed her hand roughly.

"Let go!" She managed to remember the basic of self defense: stepped on his foot and kicked him between the legs. It wasn't particularly strong but it had the element of surprise, enough to release his firm grip on her.

She was about to continue her run, when her shirt was roughly pulled back. Fortunately she managed to spin herself and release his hold or she'd be likely thrown hard against the wall. She narrowly ducked a large chunk of garbage thrown at her, saved only by her foresight.

She ran as fast as she could, running left and right, in an irregular pattern that was difficult to follow. Her lungs were burning, her feet were screaming out in protest, but she could not stop, not if she wanted to live, not if she wanted to protect her unborn children. One of her hands had always been on her slightly swelling stomach since she started running. It was only few more turns to get to the streets where the festival was. She just needed to get there….

She had seen it coming, but unfortunately, she was not as fast the vampire so she could only braced herself as she was thrown hard to the wall, her head and back were colliding painfully against the rough surface, stealing her breath away, and nearly her consciousness. She held her stomach protectively even as she slid weakly to the ground.

She coughed feebly, her chest constricted painfully as she tasted copper tang in her mouth. The simplest gesture of breathing sent waves of agony through her.

_Fractured or broken rib, punctured lung, at worst_... _At least he didn't get her stomach…_

Even through the haze of pain her mind was still able to think clearly, going as far as checking her bodies of the injuries sustained. She really was too good at compartmentalizing.

She slumped weakly against the wall, having barely any strength to keep herself upright, let alone to keep conscious. She was slightly aware of her life preserving liquid, trickling down her head that had hit the wall with such brutal force. Head wound, maybe a slight concussion, she mentally added to her list of injuries.

Fear and dread were noticeably absent from her, she felt oddly calm and detached. It might be due to the pain, or due to her natural defense mechanism to shut down her senses in order to dull the pain which would be too great to bear. However, she was losing blood and her consciousness would soon follow suit. She would not be able to do anything when the remaining pursuers finally caught up and she was aware what she was right now: she was no different that an enticing prey with blood oozing from her wounds.

"Well, well, well… That's quite a chase you managed to lead us on." Finally the owner of that familiar voice of the leader of the pack that hunted her appeared before her.

The vampire who succeeded to hurt her obediently stepped back to give way to the well-dressed man whose appearance remained neat as if he wasn't affected by the pursuit. He appeared to be mostly unscathed, unlike most of his underlings, speaking of his skill that undoubtedly placed him as the top of the small pyramid of the group. A sinister smile graced his twisted features, greatly satisfied to see the condition she was in.

He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Her first reaction was to back down, but she couldn't find the strength to move, with her broken, battered body and the wall behind her. She tried not to flinch as he knelt down before her, swiping his long finger over the wet blood on the corner of her mouth then putting it into his mouth.

"Mmm… I can see why he's attracted to you. You have such a luscious scent… and taste." His hungry red eyes were blazing as he tasted her blood. "I think it'll leave a better message if I were to completely drain you than to simply hurt you…"

Misaki had long tuned out the vampire's words, reaching out deeper into her consciousness. She knew what she was about to do was greatly forbidden, having been warned of its consequences repeatedly, but she had no other options. She had to live, or at the least, _her children_ had to live.

She probed deep into her mind and made a vivid image of people, of police officers coming through the dark alley and made the vampires scattered away. When a pair of sharp fangs was about to descend to sink itself to her flesh, her vision became true.

All of a sudden sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard, echoing loudly against the narrow brick walls, completely catching the pack off guard. A uniformed man whom she vaguely recognized at the corner of her eyes as the Paris' police officer appeared from the darkness, immediately pulling out his gun the moment he laid his eyes on her and the threatening man hovering before her.

"Stop right there or I'll shoot!" the man cried out, and like a signal, other uniformed officers appeared from behind him and from the other side of the alley, trapping the three vampires.

They could easily overpower them she knew, but there were too many people not to attract attention, and they were most likely told to be discreet and so they did the smartest thing, they left. She was vaguely aware of the disgruntled look the leader gave her way, but she could care less as she felt throbbing pain in her head, slowly turning into sharp, constant pain that made her feel that her head was going to explode anytime. She knew that this were the consequences she had to pay. And all she could think of as she was slowly sinking into the darkness was one person.

_Zero_…

I

I

I

Wild, frantic silver eyes opened up in a sudden.

Zero found himself on a familiar dark-leathered recliner, before large oak table with papers strewn over it, surrounded by shelves of books around the room. He ran his hand in her messy hair, figuring that he must have dozed off when he was working on some paperwork. But he couldn't shrug the feeling that woke him up. His senses were suddenly heightened, as if there was approaching danger. But the danger felt distant, as if it wasn't around him… or meant for him.

When that thought crossed his mind, his eyes widened in horrible realization, making him straightened up on his seat. He had this feeling before, when he felt _her_ blood was spilled.

His first reaction was to deny it; he hadn't been in contact –-drunk her blood, his inner self corrected- with her for more than three months. It couldn't be possible that he still had that kind any connection with her. He stood up from his chair, moving to grab some drink to clear his mind. He was just imagining things; she was safe in Paris, far away from here, far from the chaos that he brought. It must be the stress getting to him. He shook his head and drank the cold liquid in one gulp. However, the feeling didn't go away. Instead, it was getting worse.

He glanced at the old wooden clock hanging on the wall, mentally counting back the time back there. He moved swiftly to the drawer where he put his disposable phones. He chose one phone that had yet to be used more than one occasion. He dialed the numbers he remembered by heart by now, his fingers moved before his mind could follow.

When he heard the familiar ringing, it just occurred to him that he didn't know what to say. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't contact her again and this would only undo his attempt to keep her safe from him. Before he could back down and cut the line, he heard the phone picked up, but the voice who greeted him was not her familiar voice, but a mechanical voice telling him in French that the phone was inactive.

He frowned at this. He could never imagine her turning off her phone. She had once mentioned that because of the hectic life in Paris, she couldn't leave her phone off, even for a day. She was required to keep in touch in everything or she might be missing something important, not to mention it was also her guardian's request. The uneasy feeling he had suddenly grew stronger with this.

He dialed the necessary numbers before he connected to the operator, whose standard words were cut curtly,

"Paris, France."

He was walking back and forth in his office; agitation was clear in his posture as he waited for the phone to pick up, so intent in getting through that it never occurred to him what he would say if Misaki's roommate who answered instead of Misaki. However, when the phone was finally picked up, he didn't need to think about that at all.

"Hello? Who is this?" He barely caught the words as it was spoken in quick French; it took him a while to decipher what it meant.

"Is Misaki there?" Not wanting to give away his identity yet.

"She's in the hospital. We've just got the call. They told us it was urgent. I'm sorry," and before he could fully comprehend everything, the line went dead.

He was too stunned to register the steady beeping of the connection lost. His mind repeated the words and the tone of the speaker as she spoke it. It was spoken in little thought and much emotion. Only few emotions so strong that it would garner such reaction and make her divulge such information to strangers.

Panic… and fear.

Misaki was in a hospital. They have just got the call. And they said it was urgent. His mind quickly concluded the whole meaning that Misaki was badly hurt and it just happened recently, precisely when he felt that sudden warning which meant that his instinct was right.

For a moment he stared blankly on the phone, his mind going through every possible action, but in the end, he knew that he couldn't just stay and wait. He walked briskly to the door, taking his coat. When he stepped out, he was greeted by his secretary who immediately stood up at the sight of him.

"I'm leaving."

"But, President…" The woman was clearly surprised by the sudden proclamation and the fierce look in his eyes.

"Don't tell anyone where I'm going. Just leave a message on my voicemail if there's anything urgent."

If he was any other man, he would just leave without a word, but his sense of duty had always been great, and it didn't allow him to neglect his duty even if what he was doing was not related to his duties. Only then he left his study, and left the headquarters without being seen by anyone. When he was in a safe distance away, he booked for the earliest flight to Paris. Although he knew it would take hours that wasn't fast enough for him to reach her, he had to go. He had to see her safe by his own eyes.

_Please be safe… Please be safe._

He kept repeating those words in his mind like a silent prayer. He couldn't lose her. He _couldn't_.

If he did…

He didn't let himself think of what might happen if he was to lose her.

I

I

I

A man in white lab coat and stethoscope rounded his neck was standing in a dark room filled with medical equipments that were usually found in a doctor's room. In his hand was an antique pocketwatch that gentlemen of old used to wear, but when he closed the silver cover, instead of smooth surface, there was an engraving upon the surface, which was of an eagle with its wings and claws spread apart. With careful consideration, almost with utter reverence, he put the watch back into his pocket. Then the man looked up, as if he was sensing something. A glimpse of a worried frown could be seen on gracing his features.

"That's quite a lot of blood…"

Right on cue, the door to his office opened, revealing a woman dressed in nurse clothes whose expression confirmed his suspicions,

"Doctor Baudin. There's an emergency."

The light from the hallways shone through the darkened room, giving clearer view of the doctor who had the appearance of a kind aged man that easily gained the trust of his patients. He merely nodded to the nurse and walked out from his office in a brisk pace that doctors adopted whenever they tried to reach their patients in a hurry.

"The patient is female. 20 years old. Multiple wounds and bruises. She already lost a great deal of blood before she arrived."

"How bad it is?"

"She has a head wound. Broken if not fractured ribs. Internal bleeding…" the nurse trailed off, listing the injuries their patient sustained, disbelief colored her tone despite the professional façade she wore. It was no different for him.

"What happened? Did she fall over the stairs or something? Was she involved in a car accident?" Baudin frowned; the nurse hadn't told him the cause of injuries while it was supposed to be standard procedure.

"From the police, the preliminary investigation suggested that she was thrown against a wall."

Baudin's steady steps faltered for a moment before they retained their former pace.

"That's impossible." That explained the nurse's reaction.

But the doctor knew that it was possible. He had seen enough what human could do to one another, and he knew that regardless how strong the human was he wouldn't be able to cause so much damage, unless there was an involvement of those immortal beings. He gritted his teeth in anger, he knew that not all of them were bad, the one he served was testament to that, but sometimes he thought that those beings' existence was dangerous by itself.

"She's been prepped for surgery." The nurse concluded after listing all the necessary precautions to preserve her life.

"Alright." He was ready to scrub in, before the nurse stopped him by the arm when she received the newest report of their patient.

"There's something else. She's 15 weeks along." This time the nurse didn't hide her concern, mirroring his own reaction. He didn't say anything else, but entered the operating room.

He nodded to the team inside the room, each to their own responsibilities. For the first time he finally had a good look on his patient. Although he couldn't fully see her face due to the breathing tube, he saw a glimpse of youth from her features. She still had a long life to live for, and a child to take care of. He wouldn't forgive whoever did this, immortals or not.

He closed his eyes briefly, regulating his breathing in order to release his anger. It wouldn't do now for him to lose his composure, his patient needed him. When his eyes were opened, there was only steely determination. With a curt nod from him, the race against time was started.

I

I

I

Zero immediately looked for a public phone the moment he landed on the _Charles de Gaulle_ airport. After more than 12 hours flight, normal people would need a while to regain their feelings on their limbs. In times like these, he was inwardly glad that he wasn't one. He didn't know what hospital Misaki was treated and he knew he couldn't call to her apartment, knowing it must be empty and he didn't have her roommates' number.

He could only do it the traditional way, by asking every single hospital in Paris and looked for any patient named Hisakawa. He couldn't recall which hospital it was that he called but finally he found the response he wanted and without wasting any time he memorized the name and address of the hospital and found a taxi waiting outside to get him there.

When his eyes finally caught the sight of the hospital where she was supposedly treated, he could barely contain himself to just stop the taxi and go there on his own. Everything became a blur afterwards to him, he barely remembered giving the driver the fee that was more than it should be, he barely remembered getting into the hospital and asking for a patient by her name. His body seemed to have its own mind, needing not his mind's orders to reach his destination.

The first thing he saw when he was about to reach the room where she was treated was her two friends sitting on the bench at the opposite wall to the rooms. He wasn't surprised for their presence, knowing that they were virtually family to Misaki as she made them her next-of-kin during her stay in Paris. A part of him absently wondered whether she knew that this was going to happen to her while the other part of him that was more in touch in reality managed to catch the looks in their faces. They seemed trying to console each other, to his own dread. The dark-haired one was the first to see his arrival, and when she recognized him, her eyes narrowed in dislike. The other one who wasn't facing him seemed to realize her friend's expression and finally turned to look at his direction, but there was nothing but surprise on her face unlike her friend.

"Zero?" It was her whom he remembered as the suburban French girl, Tanya and she was the one who seemed less against his presence here.

"I heard the news when I called last night," he explained his presence without being asked further.

"So it was you?" the other, Sonia looked at him accusingly, but Zero returned the glare calmly.

"What happened?" instead he turned to the shorter woman who seemed more likely he got more information from.

"I… We don't know… All we know that she was attacked on her way home. Fortunately there were police officers nearby because there was a festival. When they heard something suspicious, they found her being surrounded by people. She was very badly hurt," her voice broke as she said this, but she continued telling him,

"She had lots of wounds from what we're told and lost a great deal of blood. Doctor said that if she was to be admitted any later, she might die." Tears already started gathering in her eyes.

"How is she?" he pressured, as much as he felt the same way as the girl, he was much better at keeping his composure and he knew that he needed to know that she was safe.

"She's in coma." The answer surprisingly came from Sonia; his surprised eyes met her hard ones. "They managed to stabilize her and treat her injuries, but it seems the head wound she had was more serious that it seemed."

"What do you mean?" His composure started to falter, fear and dread gnawing painfully inside him. A part of him wanted to shut his ears and to deny the words spoken of her condition.

"The chances of her to regain her consciousness are slim to none."

He was completely taken aback, he felt that his heart stopped beating and his breath caught in his throat when he heard the statement. His eyes instinctively went to the room where a familiar outline of lying figure could be seen through the lidded curtains. His first reaction was to deny it and burst into the room to see that she was alright, but he found no strength to take a single step into the room, to her, fearing that he would see that it was indeed the truth.

"How did this happen?" Instead he spoke so softly that it was nearly a whisper.

"The police can't tell much, but there are things that don't make sense," there was a pause, "Her injuries suggested it was caused by her impact to the wall, but it was too severe for a mere impact."

His silver eyes widened and quickly narrowed as suspicions grew in his mind. He knew those kind of injuries, injuries that couldn't be inflicted by normal people unless they had the blood of vampires in their veins either by choice or by inheritance. Was this a coincidence? Or was it only him overanalyzing things? He ran his hand through his hair out of habit. A gesture wasn't missed by the sharp-eyed Sonia.

"You know something about her attackers, don't you?" Sonia's dark eyes seemed only darken further.

"It's nothing." His face was completely calm, not giving away anything, and it only aggravated the dark-haired woman.

"Nothing!" Angrily, the woman stood in front of him while Tanya looked from her friend to him back and forth, wanting to stop the confrontation that she knew that would likely to happen with their emotions on the edge.

"Sonia!" Tanya avoided looking into his eyes. He was aware that unlike Sonia, Tanya was more intimidated by him and his attitude which was most people's thought about him and how he preferred that way. She was more afraid of his reaction with her friend's outburst, not knowing how he would react.

"You better tell me, _monsieur_, because I know _you_'re involved in this somehow." Sonia paid no heed to the younger woman's attempt in calming her down, instead she pushed ahead, mercilessly prodding his chest with her finger.

"Why is that?"

"Why? Maybe because you're the only man that's close enough to Misaki and the only one who might be the father of the children she bears." Finally, at the mention of children, Sonia got a reaction from the indifferent man, his eyes widened in pure surprise.

"Children?" Disbelief and confusion colored his voice and his eyes. Sonia didn't fail to notice this and realized that he didn't know as much as they -her roommates and friends- didn't.

"Yes! She's pregnant! With twins! They're yours, aren't they?"

"…It couldn't be…"

Those were the words he could only utter, his mind could hardly accept the continuous and merciless barrage of information that he failed to know. His instinctive reaction was to deny it, but he knew that it must be his. He knew her, he knew that he was her first and only. He knew that she was not the kind of girl to give away herself to anyone, unless she had no choice. The choice he didn't give to her, he thought painfully, he had taken away many choices from her.

Sonia was about to continue her tirade, but when her eyes met his, all the words she wanted to say were lost. She recognized the look very well; she knew it all too well. The look of great pain and sadness. The look of complete self-loathing and admonishment.

Suddenly she realized why she never grew a liking to this man, why she tried to make her friend not to get too close with him, because he reminded her of her old, insecure self who grew up in such environment that she learned that people never did something without having a reason to do so. She grew up with the mindset that no one was to be trusted and she was the only one she could rely on. She was too used to sharp words and harsh treatment that when someone treated her with kindness she could only turn it down in suspicion and ended up hurting them even when she truly wanted to accept and return the kindness given to her.

This man was no different…

When she realized this, her anger slowly dissipated. That was why she didn't want Misaki to get too close to him, because she could tell, she could see from the way his eyes softened whenever he laid his eyes on her, the way his lips curved in slight smile whenever he saw her smile, the way he let go all of his pretenses whenever he was by her side… She knew he truly and deeply cared for her. The more he cared, the more likely he would hurt her more.

Because he didn't know how_ not_ to.

She knew that she didn't need to say anything more, because he already understood the reason for her anger and already blamed himself for everything that befell on Misaki. She decided that there was no need to lay all the blame and take out her anger on him anymore. Feeling slightly guilty and ashamed of herself for her own outburst when she rarely let her emotions take control,

"I'm sorry… I… didn't mean to take it out on you…" Sonia reluctantly apologized to Zero, unable to look at him in the eye.

"…You have the right to. It's not like I'm completely blameless." The cold, detached façade was once again on his face, to her disappointment, recognizing the easiest way to ignore the pain.

"…The children are alright, though," Tanya finally found her voice, feeling relieved that both of them managed to get their emotions under control and trying to give good news among the bad news they kept giving the silver-haired man. "The doctors were skeptical at first, seeing their mother's condition, but it appears that they are unharmed and they're likely to survive."

He couldn't deny that it was good news, but it wouldn't matter if the mother didn't survive. The twins would need more their mother than this kind of father who couldn't even protect her.

"Do you… want to see her?" Tanya asked carefully. She never felt easy in any kind of silence, but this silence greatly unnerved her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she got his attention, but he didn't say anything. He was greatly tempted to accept that offer, but he didn't want to see her yet… not before he found the people that hurt her and demanded their responsibility.

"I'll see her doctor first," he spoke firmly. Now that he had a purpose, he regained his bearings completely once again and set his priorities.

"His name is Doctor Baudin," Sonia told him, seemingly unsurprised and unaffected by his indirect refusal to see her friend, "You can see him in his office. Just walk down the hall and turn right until you reach the doctor's area. Just look for his name plate on the door."

Zero nodded his thanks to the woman; all traces of their previous argument were no longer there. Sonia merely nodded back and let him go. Tanya who was confused with the sudden change between the two of them could only look at her and his retreating back,

"Why do you let him go?"

"He won't see her… Not until he's settled everything…" Sonia knew that posture very well. She knew the tension hidden beneath his calm façade and she knew the only way to release it was to find the person responsible. She just hoped that he wouldn't get himself killed in the process.

Zero followed the directions given to him, and without difficulty he found the area where the doctors were. He traced the doors until he found himself before a closed door with the name Baudin written on the nameplate. He knocked the door twice to signal his presence.

"Come in." A deep voice answered from behind the door.

He opened the door to find an aged man on the side of the room, his back to him, reading black and white images on the board. When he was fully inside the room, suddenly he felt tingling in his spine that made him instinctively wary. The man wearing the white coat finally turned towards him, giving him the opportunity to study the doctor.

"Please be seated," Baudin gestured to the empty chairs across the table with a friendly smile. Zero took one of the chairs and seated himself as the doctor did the same. The doctor had the appearance of a man in his fifties, which would make him an ancient and powerful vampire whose presence he wouldn't be able to easily ignore if he was one, but he didn't, thus excluding the possibility that he was a vampire. Which only left one remaining possibility, and it would be rather difficult to prove.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm here for one of the patients," Zero cut before the man could ask his name, Baudin didn't seem to recognize him of yet, or he was that good of an actor. His mind swiftly went through several ways to prove his suspicions. "Misaki Hisakawa."

"Ah," a shadow seemed to flicker over his wizened face when he mentioned her name, "You're a friend of hers?"

"I'm here on the behalf of her guardian, Matsushita. I believe he has informed you that I'd be acting as her guardian until he arrived here. I'd like to know more of her condition."

Cool silver eyes gazed over Baudin, unconsciously made the other man nervous, as it was seen from his movements, "Ah, he did mention that he would send someone in his behalf. Umm, let me look it up." He gave Zero a kind and unsuspecting smile as he leafed through the papers on his desk, most likely looking for the paper from Matsushita that gave him the authority over Misaki on his behalf.

Before the man could find out who he was, Zero knew he had to act fast, using the man's distraction to carefully pull out a thin, long metal out of his sleeve, which has become his secondary weapon after Bloody Rose and his main weapon when he required stealth the most. With the slightest flick of his wrist, the sharp metal was sent hurling through the air with such speed that it was barely visible to the eye, managing to graze the older man on his cheek.

"Ah," whether it was out of instinct or something else, the man's hand quickly reached out to his grazed cheek while the other hand went for a pack of tissues on his table. However, the hand did little to hide the supposedly grazed cheek as Zero's sharp eyes unfailingly noticed how the graze was disappearing under the blood. And the blood…

He knew that scent of blood.

Before Baudin could register what was happening, he found himself staring at the barrel of a gun right on his face. His eyes widened in surprise and his body immediately stiffened at the familiar click resounding in the silence of his room.

"_What's a vampire servant doing here?"_

_

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_

_-_insert suspenseful music here_-_

A cliffhanger! It's not exactly intentional though, the real chapter is rather long so I happened to find the right place to cut it -snickers- and I have the evil tendency to make my favorite characters suffer... Woe is Misaki... there's no good in being my OC, but then again, she's human.

On a side note, the difference between ex human vampire and vampire servant (who remains human) makes my head spin, especially the master-servant relationship. I'd assume vampire servant has lesser bound with his/her master (usually pureblood), seeing Zero and Ichiru towards Shizuka though almost with same advantages with being a vampire(?) seeing how surprised Zero was when he found out Ichiru was not a vampire.

So... tell me what you think in your review :)


	4. Chapter 3

I'm sorry for the rather late update! The beta took quite a while, since she's busy with work, and she's all I have. Thank you for giving your time to edit this chappie, Shapby. I also want to welcome new reviewers: NinjaSheik and Zio. I'm glad you enjoy this fic of mine and I hope you'd keep reading and reviewing :D

~Audriel

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"_What's a vampire servant doing here?"_

The words were all but spoken with such dangerous edge that stabbed mercilessly through the elder doctor. Questions flashed frantically through his mind, one after another, but one stood prominently in his mind as his body frozen in fear.

_How did he know?_

Baudin knew that there were people, or specifically, _hunters_, with the gift to sense their prey in their vicinity, but it was a rarity itself. It was much rarer to be able to swiftly recognize or even to suspect a vampire servant whose presence wasn't as blatantly obvious as a vampire and easily passable as a normal human.

He never expected to encounter a hunter in the hospital where he worked; he never actually came face to face with one during his servitude. He thought there would be no chance for him to actually meet one, as he posed little threat. He wanted nothing related to those vampires if he wasn't bound into servitude. The fact that this hunter managed to find and recognize him as a vampire's servant without knowing his identity revealed the hunter's exceptional ability, which meant he was the most dangerous kind of vampire hunters. With the experience gained through the years handling people, he managed to reply calmly without avoiding eye contact,

"I am nothing but a doctor who happens to be a servant. I have been a doctor long before I became a servant. I have done nothing beyond my duties as a doctor, _monsieur Chasseur_…"

"Why should I trust your word?"

"I have never harmed anyone throughout my lifetime and I solemnly swear on the blood of my master, Lord Charlemagne, I do not, and will not."

To swear by the blood of one's master was a sacred tradition for vampires that descended from noble lineage of European kings and queens. It was not something that could be spoken lightly because when the servant swore by his master's blood, the words bound the servant absolutely. If the servant didn't hold the oath, it meant the master had the right to take his life as he wished. And Lord Charlemagne was one of the most respectable pureblood in Europe. He just wished that the hunter who was aiming a gun to his head knew of this or at least the name of his master, recognizing the faint foreign accent in his French. After what felt like a long, arduous moment, he finally heard the click of the safety returned to its place and sensed the gun being pulled back from him.

"It was very bold of you to swear on your master's blood and on Lord Charlemagne of all people."

Baudin was a little taken aback by the hunter's knowledge of both the tradition and Lord Charlemagne. Warily, he studied the young man before him. He was tall and slender, with silver hair that glinted under the dim lighting of his office and eyes of the same shade. He blinked in surprise, he had heard of a hunter with unconventional abilities who had the same description of the man in front of him. Right on that moment, his trembling fingers stumbled upon the paper he had been looking for, his eyes briefly flickered on the contents, and immediately froze at the name written in bold letters that confirmed his suspicions.

The youngest hunter to hold the highest authority over the hunters in the history of hunters and vampires and the hunter of the hunters who stood equal to the purebloods: Zero Kiryuu.

Baudin had difficulty controlling his body's reaction towards the intimidating presence of the silver-haired hunter, completely tense and shaking in fear. The younger man might lower the gun, but it didn't mean that he couldn't or wouldn't kill him. If what he heard was true, then the hunter wouldn't need his gun to simply kill him off. He knew that he wouldn't give the hunter enough of a fight, let alone break a sweat. He could barely defend himself against local thugs, saved only by his quick reflexes and hasty feet.

Meanwhile, Zero was watching the play across the man's eyes carefully. He didn't fail to notice the pure surprise in his face when he saw him and the recognition followed by wariness and a hint of fear. This man was no fighter, he could tell from the doctor's slow reaction towards threat. Fortunately, he knew enough of the culture of the European society to know the weight behind an oath. Lord Charlemagne was also one of the first European purebloods who acknowledged him and one of few purebloods he could truly respect. He doubted that man would take lightly that one of his servants swore by his blood.

"I'd give you the benefit of doubt for now." Zero returned his weapon back to its holster. He vaguely saw the vampire servant's shoulders sagged in relief. Baudin regained his composure and decided to take control of the situation, trying to make it as normal as possible.

"So… you're here for _mademoiselle _Hisakawa?" he carefully asked, recalling the reason why the hunter appeared in his office.

"Yes."

"What do you want to know?"

"The extent of her injuries."

"Ah." The doctor's discomfort was rather evident for his sharp eyes. "Her body received quite damage, mostly her upper body. She had few broken ribs that caused a slight puncture on her lungs. Some of her internal organs were damaged. We managed to replace the blood she lost immediately and treat the bleeding swiftly before it could do further harm to her life."

"Then why is she in a coma?" His explanation gave the impression that the extent of her injuries wasn't as bad as he heard it from the two women. Baudin rubbed his temple and let out sigh.

"I've told her friends that it was her head wound. The wound was the only open wound and actually the least of the injuries, but it was the only explanation I could find for the damage to the brain."

"What kind of damage?" Zero asked inquisitively. It was interesting that the man who was supposed to have more experience than any normal doctor was unable to explain what happened to Misaki.

"Well, let's see…" The man stood up from his chair and took the images that Zero found the doctor looking at seriously when he came into his office and reclaimed his recliner in the opposite side. Baudin put the images on the transparent board behind him, replacing the previous images on it. Zero recognized the image as images of the brain.

"The one at the left is an image of healthy brain, while the one at the right is the image of her brain. Could you see the difference?"

"…The frontal lobe."

"Yes. As you can see the damage was centered on the frontal lobe instead on the part where the brain received impact…"

He might have not attended class regularly when he was in the Academy, but he had exceptional memory that enabled him to remember contents in a textbook with ease and precision. He recalled the words in the anatomy book he had to read about the frontal lobe and its function.

_The executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to _**recognize future consequences **_resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events…_

Suddenly he remembered one of the conversations they had about her ability on the rooftop.

"_Basically, you can only see glimpses of the future."_

"_Yep. Just like puzzles."_

"_In the end, it relies on the foretellers' ability?"_

"_Indeed. We see many possibilities of the future, the future with the likeliest chance to happen, future with least chance to happen, and future with certainty of happening… There are futures we can change, but there are also those we cannot and simply prepare for. We act based on it."_

"_Then you cannot truly make the future to your liking?"_

"_Not really," she said lightly._

"_Not really?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised._

"_We can, but with a high price. We, foretellers, basically play with the flow of time; we can direct it by putting obstacles in its way so it would flow into the direction we want. We cannot stop the time or move it forward. We can change the chances of the futures happening, but we cannot change it immediately."_

_Zero waited until she continued her explanation._

"_We can change the future immediately by envisioning the future we wanted, regardless how slim the chances of it happening, but the consequences__are__dire. Most people who did it died, either instantly or moments afterwards. There were survivors but they became paralyzed or demented. Using this ability is strictly forbidden because it's the same with playing with time. It's no longer our domain…" _

As he recalled those very words she said, he could only draw the conclusion that she used that forbidden ability.

"_All we know that she was attacked on her way home. Fortunately, there were police officers nearby because there was a festival. When they heard something suspicious,__they found her being surrounded by people."_

It was no coincidence. The police officers didn't find her by chance. She made them come.

She was trying to _live_.

His nails dug deep into his fabric-clad knee, his hands shaking visibly in barely suppressed anger.

"…The damage is too great on her brain. I don't know whether she would regain her consciousness or not. I'm sorry…" The doctor's words returned his mind back to reality, that she was still fighting for her life.

"Is there nothing that can be done?" he asked Baudin, eyes meeting his directly, looking for the slightest chance, the slightest hope that she could regain her consciousness.

Baudin realized how much the other man cared for his patient, and he truly wanted to give him something, anything to hold on to. But he couldn't bring himself to lie, "I don't know…"

It was the last thing Zero wanted to hear, but he was realistic enough that the fact she was still alive and breathing, instead of dying was a miracle of itself, recalling the fate of the people who used the ability. Silence fell between them, the young man kept his head bowed while the doctor could only look at him worriedly.

"Doctor… What did the police find?" It was not the question Baudin expected, but he answered it nonetheless.

"They found some evidence that indicated whoever attacked her had her followed and it seemed when she realized this, she tried to evade them. However, before she could get to the streets and ask for help, they got to her."

"Was there any struggle?"

"…No." Baudin had learned how perceptive the young hunter was from the short time he was with him, and he knew that he had had his suspicions of the ones behind the attack on her.

"Tell me, doctor… Do you think ordinary human can do this?" Finally Zero raised his head; his features were surprisingly calm and detached.

"No." Before when he laid his eyes on the young woman, he wasn't so sure, but now he couldn't be any surer. He might be betraying the vampires by saying this to a hunter, but he wouldn't feel guilty to anyone, human or vampire, who dared to do such thing to a young powerless pregnant woman.

"Thank you." Zero stood up from his seat, preparing to leave.

"Wait!" Baudin just realized that there was something he failed to mention, "I haven't told you of the children." The hunter didn't leave, but he didn't give away anything when he mentioned of the twins.

"I think you might want to know of the twins," he pulled out the ultrasound images of the twins and laid it down on the table for him to see.

"It seems they are fraternal twins. It's too early to know their gender though."

"Fraternal…" Zero's hand absently moved itself to touch the image of the twins within their mother's womb, next to each other. His mind swiftly associated fraternal twins with twins from different eggs, while he and his brother were identical twins from the same egg. A slight hope arose within him that there might be hope that these children would not share the fate of him and Ichiru.

"Did she mention having twins in her family?"

"I'm not sure. I think she did… from her mother, I suppose." He didn't pay much heed to that information when she shared the story of her family.

"That explains the fraternal twins. Research reported that the chance of fraternal twins were higher for women who had twins from the mother's side."

Zero listened with half an ear to the older man's explanation, too entranced by the sight of the tiny humans that were created from a part of him and her.

"How are they?"

"They're surprisingly strong and healthy. They'll survive." There was a reluctant pause from the doctor, earning Baudin a questioning look.

"Well it's just… I heard from the police and medics that brought her to hospital that she had her hand on her abdomen all the time. It seems… that she was trying to protect the children even as she lost consciousness."

Silence greeted his words, making Baudin stumble with words, not knowing what to say anymore.

"If you know the father, please tell him of his children. He still has the children to think about," he smiled tentatively, guessing that the father himself was standing before him.

"I will, only if you will keep trying to find a way for their mother to wake up. The children need their mother more."

Baudin was silenced with the response, "I will. You have my word."

The young man simply nodded in return and he left as quietly as he came, leaving no trace that there was a man within the office before. Baudin knew what Kiryuu would do and he would not stop him even if he could. Meanwhile, he would fulfill the end of his bargain.

I

I

I

Zero managed to gain information regarding the incident from the French police complete report. He was given authorization to overlook it as the representative of the victim, which was true because the family lawyer had given him the authority until he could come to Paris himself. There was no accurate description of the attackers because it was dark and the police officers weren't able to distinguish them.

They could only say that there were 3 or 4 people who were seen around her when they intervened. However, one of them reported that the person who stood the closest to Misaki, who was slumped against the wall, seemed like a well-dressed man with a monocle on his right eye.

Having heard of the description of the situation directly from the first officer on the scene, he could ascertain that the man who was the closest to her was the leader of the pack, the highest-ranked servant. Ex-human vampire or noble, he thought to himself. If his suspicions were correct, then the one behind this was a pureblood. His silver eyes glinted dangerously.

Time to pay a visit to an old friend.

The first time he went to Europe as the newly appointed president of hunter association, he made sure to know the representatives in the every region, France was no exception. One of the representatives was an old friend of Kiryuu family, Kirihara Asuka. He was retired now, and was living in the borders of Paris.

Kirihara was a seasoned hunter and had been acting as representative of the association for half of his life. He might be retired but his insight remained sharp and invaluable. Zero had kept his address in his notebook in case he would come to need it; especially that Misaki also lived in Paris. He had asked the older man to keep him informed regarding the situation in Paris specifically, but he didn't ask him to watch over Misaki. It didn't cross his mind back then, feeling there was no need for it. Now he wished that he did.

He shook the thoughts away; dwelling in the past never brought any good. That was what she never failed to remind him. He noticed that whenever she saw him like that she seemed annoyed and she would try to get a rise out of him by starting one argument or another.

When he looked back, he realized that it was her way to get him out of his depression, he recalled fondly. Misaki knew him better than she gave herself away. A slight pang could be felt in his chest when he remembered of her. He nearly missed the address when he realized that he was a house further than he should be. He double checked the number of the house before knocking on the door of the house.

There was no immediate reaction, but he knew better. He could sense a presence approaching the door; the steps were so light that it didn't create any sound. Thus he wasn't surprised when the door opened to reveal a medium-built man with white hair that gave away his age and glasses that hid his sharp grey eyes. In a glance, he seemed like an ordinary retiree, but only those who paid attention more closely could see the way he carried himself.

"Well, if it isn't young Kiryuu," the man smirked; calling him by the same name he had always called him since they met for the first time back home.

"Kirihara," Zero nodded to the owner of the house.

"Come in," the older man invited him in. The house was small but it was enough for a lone man. Zero could see books and rolls of parchment scattered around the hallways and in the rooms. Only the living room where Kirihara led him to was clean of those and neat enough to talk comfortably. The older hunter seated himself on the chair at the opposite of him, a signal for him to take his own seat.

"So, what brings you here, young Kiryuu?"

It was odd that he called him by that name but still called Ichiru by name. He thought the man disliked him by not calling him by name. Eventually he found out that the reason when they met again. Kirihara family had always been a friend to Kiryuu family, supporting each other since the beginning of the days throughout the lives as hunters.

The Kiriharas respected the Kiryuus, but their respect grew less and less as the Kiryuus were changing into less than their predecessors, the great hunters who brought forth respect and fear to hunters and vampires alike. In his opinion, his family managed to maintain the reputation as the strongest hunter family, but didn't command the same fear and respect. But the experienced hunter saw it in him and he thought that he was the very impersonation of those Kiryuus of old. That was why the older hunter kept calling him by his family name, to remind him of what he was. And because of that, he knew he could rely on the man.

"I'm looking for a vampire with the description of a well-dressed man in his forties and a monocle on his right eye," Zero wasted no time.

"Ah. I can only think of one person that fit that description. Is he the man who was behind the incident last night?"

Zero hid his surprise well, but the other man was able to sense it still, chuckling when Kirihara noticed his concealed emotion.

"Didn't you tell me to keep an eye on things?" he spread his hands, "When I went to the place where it happened, I sensed traces of them. I heard it was a woman. An acquaintance of yours?"

Zero already knew that he wouldn't be able to completely hide everything from the seasoned hunter that he gave away no reaction towards the mention of her.

"She is. And I think it's because they want to get me." The corner of his mouth curved slightly upwards in a sardonic smile. Kirihara leaned back on his seat with interest.

"What makes you think so?"

"There's no need for more than one vampire to attack one harmless woman."

"How many?"

"Three or four, based on the police report." Zero saw a spark of anger in his grey eyes.

Kirihara was a prideful man, although he wouldn't consider himself honorable. He would never attack anyone who was defenseless without a reason, especially women and children.

"That's such a cheap trick, for him to go that low.

"His name is Jacques Belmont. He was a former hunter turned into vampire. Just like you, although he became more like a vampire than a hunter. Little is known about his master, but it's likely that the person is a pureblood. Men like Jacques would not bow down to mere nobles. He made that pretty clear."

"You've met him?"

"A long time ago, when I was newly appointed here. He was a prideful man, coming from the high-class society. The Gentleman. It was his nickname as a hunter. He always wore three-pieced suit and took off his gloves whenever he went hunting and always returned unscathed."

"Why wasn't he taken care of?"

"We had no reason to put him into the list, because he was clean. He wasn't in a threat of falling to Level E and he had no criminal record. There were cases with him as one of the suspects, but he always got off. He was as sly as a snake. The association didn't want to risk their hunters."

"I see. Then it wouldn't be any problem if his name suddenly appears in the list." Zero spoke calmly, as though it was nothing of great consequence.

"Nope," Kirihara shrugged lightly.

"I suppose it's easy to find him," Zero had heard enough, he stood up.

"Very. I'd suggest looking in the theaters. _Opéra-Comique_ has a play tonight. You'd find most of the high-class society there."

"Thank you." He nodded to the still seated man who merely waved his hand.

"It's nothin'. You came with a clear description; I only put a name on him. Belmont made it quite easy. Though if you allow me, how will you handle this?" Zero knew the underlying question, how far he would go, if he were to find the pureblood behind this.

"I'd make sure every single one of them regret it. They will get what they deserve." And wordlessly he turned his back and left.

Kirihara felt a chill through him as he saw the look in the younger man's eyes. He had long learned that the most dangerous anger was the calm, controlled one. The remaining member of Kiryuu family would not be satisfied by simply killing them, he would make them _suffer_. Whoever the vampire who gave the order to Belmont would pay for his foolishness and he felt a slight pity for that pureblood for trying to make an enemy of the president. It would be interesting to watch.

I

I

I

Zero had decided that he would take his time; even though he wanted to end their lives without sparing any further thought. He knew by doing this, he neglected his duties as the president of the association, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He still checked his voice mail for messages and gave instructions through the same media, but he didn't give away anything else. His only contact was with his advisor, Yagari. His former teacher was curious of his sudden disappearance, but Yagari hid it well and refrained from questioning him, to his great relief. Yagari was one of the few people he could fully trust and rely on and he hated to lie to him, whatever the reason was.

He managed to find a seat within the hall of _Opéra-Comique_, blending in inconspicuously with the audience of the play that was about to take place. It was fortunate that Paris was filled with various kinds of nationalities and people that he didn't stand out more than he intended. His silver hair and eyes were too well-known in the hunters and vampires' society alike. The seat he chose was far behind and in the corner where the shadows concealed his presence perfectly while he could have a clear view of the people within the audience.

In a glance, he could tell that there were high-class society members: nobles and well-known figures in France, which also consisted of the nocturnal beings known as vampires. His senses were tingling more often than not with their presence in the opera hall. Most of them were sitting in their private, luxurious boxes, away from the humans in the auditorium for one reason or another.

His sharp eyes swept the theater, trying to find the person that fit the description of the gentleman. There were few ex-human vampires he found that matched the description, considering that the situation called for the audience to wear their best suits and dresses and monocles were one of ornaments that nobles preferred to wear, but he heard enough information from the awed people who were sitting on the boxes to eliminate the other vampires from the equation, leaving two likeliest candidates.

It didn't take long for him to find him, the nobles of vampires had always a way to carry themselves that differentiated themselves from other vampires and humans at most, which was the same for hunters for those who knew better. There were certain habits that were so deeply ingrained that it was impossible to discard, such as the habit of carrying weapons within the worn clothes. Vampires didn't need weapons; their own body was a weapon.

Only vampires that were previously human or hunters, in this case, would need weapons and felt the need to carry one.

He certainly deserved the name of the Gentleman, Zero thought, the man was hardly distinguishable from the blue-blooded people. Changing into a vampire didn't make any noticeable difference in his appearance. He was tall and slender; the three-pieced suit he wore fit him perfectly. His dark hair was slicked back; green eyes could be seen behind his monocle which was worn on his right eye. He was talking with a woman in a green dress next to him, leaning on his white gloved hand. As he watched every minute details of the former-hunter-turned-vampire's gesture, he started to form a plan for him and the others.

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Zero spent most of his time watching Belmont aside from occasional rest he took which barely affected his time. In times like these he was grateful for the physical strength of vampires. It was odd, he mused as he sat in a café across the exquisite apartment where one of Belmont's underlings was, it wasn't like him to be this patient to get back at vampires. If he was his old, youthful self, he couldn't imagine himself doing things that he was currently doing. He would likely just barge into his targets' place and finish them off without batting an eye. It was more like him and it was greatly tempting.

However, he knew it wasn't an option if he wanted to get the one behind everything who gave the order to Belmont. He must be careful. Belmont himself didn't make it any easier; he really knew how to keep it quiet. There were many ways he could use to contact his master and Zero couldn't track every single one of them. Though his underlings were a different matter altogether.

He had less caution when it came to them, maybe because he mingled with many people with no particular inclination, human and vampires alike. Although for someone like him who knew what to look for, it was rather easy, especially seeing their interaction. He had narrowed it down to a handful of people who showed the typical master-servant loyalty and chose one of them whom he thought would be easier to break.

He finished his drink and put down the money on the table before leaving the café and heading towards the building where the apartment was. It was a few hours before noon, and the weather was fine and warm, the sun was shining unhindered on the blue sky above. Most vampires would rather stay indoors or remain asleep throughout the day, his target was among them. He calmly walked to the door, nodded to the doorman before the elevators and within moments he was already at the door with the number and the name of the owner of the apartment carved elegantly upon it. He rang the bell once.

"Who is this?" A sleepy voice called out through the intercom.

"I'm looking for Alain Rousseau. I have a message from Jacques Belmont."

When Zero heard the bolt unlocked, it was all he needed. His eyes flashed dangerously.

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Starting from Rousseau, he went to his accomplices that night: Jean Beauvais and Arnaud Laroche. Like their friend -if they could be considered as one- he didn't go easy on them, he made them give away everything they knew about Belmont and his master, aside than the recollections of what happened that night.

How they followed her, how they waited for Belmont's signal, how they chased her all the way, how one of them finally caught her and threw her against the wall, and what Belmont intended to do before it was interrupted by Parisian police officers.

His face remained cold and detached as he heard their recollections, for Rousseau and Beauvais, he gave them a measure of pity, killing them off instantly before they even realized what happened to them, but he didn't give any to Laroche, being the one who hurt her the most.

Granted, he didn't know that she was pregnant, but he didn't hesitate or even lessen his strength as he threw her frail body against the rough brick walls. Zero couldn't shake the thought off his mind that if that bastard was to assert more strength into his push she would die along with her -_their_- children.

He let them man run for his life while he easily followed Laroche's frantic escape through the city, regardless the other man's better knowledge about Paris. In his anger, his senses were pushed into its limit that he could sense the man's presence through the thickness of the building walls and crowds between them.

Zero gave Laroche the same treatment the man gave Misaki, throwing him against the wall when he caught him without holding back his strength that would likely kill any ordinary human instantly and save them from the pain and suffering, which was unfortunate for Laroche who was still alive after the impact that rendered him barely conscious due to his vampire blood.

He let him drift between the world of darkness and the world of pain, not letting him escape to the blissful world of unconsciousness. Until he was satisfied enough, he ended his suffering with a shot through his heart and like the rest of his companions; Laroche crumbled into ashes to the ground, leaving no remains of the man before and no traces of the man who did it. For those who didn't know, it was simply three people disappearing without a trace. For those who knew…

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Belmont knew something was wrong; he couldn't contact any of his underlings. He had thought nothing of it at first. It wasn't that he had to keep track of them as if he had nothing else more important to do. However, he didn't find them even in their usual places where he met them or whenever he wanted to find them. He went to their apartments and mansion, but he found no sign of them, no sign of them leaving somewhere, instead everything was in place as if nothing happened to their owners, as if they just disappeared into thin air.

First it was Rousseau, then Beauvais. Two of the people involved in that attack against Kiryuu's woman. He found nothing to support his suspicion and he thought it was merely his paranoia getting to him until he also lost Laroche.

Unlike the other two, he didn't completely disappear without a trace; he managed to find traces of his blood, barely visible against the red-bricked wall in the small alleys far from his apartment. The wall itself was badly damaged with a hollow crater created from the impact of something thrown against its surface, but there was no body in sight. No human or hunter could do this; Laroche was the strongest among the three. He was the best fighter he had; he would not be defeated easily.

There was only one explanation why there was no body left, because it was reduced to ashes. Only hunter weapons could turn vampires into ashes. There was only one person who could do this, the person who was both a vampire that was strong enough to defeat Laroche easily and a hunter that could kill vampires without leaving a trace: Zero Kiryuu.

His eyes narrowed in wariness, he wondered how that man could find the ones involved in that incident, knowing full well that the darkness concealed their identity well enough and he was confident that whatever description they had was nothing definitive. However, he managed to get all three of his underlings correctly and he had no information regarding anyone who was trying to find out more about what happened that night other than the police officers. He had no sightings of Japanese silver-haired man either. He concealed his frown with a charming smile to the young lady sitting the opposite side of him, talking animatedly about something he paid little attention to. How could the man find out?

Unless…

The hunter started from himself, instead from his underlings. He didn't keep a low profile, having no need to do so, considering his status as the heir of the noble line of Belmont. It provided a perfect cover for his contact with other nobles which were in actuality vampires.

He made sure not to mingle with a certain crowd, and didn't openly interact with his underlings. He was sure that no one could relate him with Rousseau, Beauvais and Laroche. But it was definitely easier getting to them through him, instead getting to him through them. He didn't doubt their loyalty to him and he had placed an assurance if they were to betray him. Now why hasn't the Kiryuu gotten to him already?

When the answer came to him, immediately he got to his feet, surprising his current conversation partner. She thought that her words offended him and quickly apologized to him. The apology was politely brushed off, telling her that he was just reminded that he had something else to take care of and without any further explanation, he left the perplexed young woman and the lounge.

As he stepped out to outside, warm night air immediately greeted him. He inwardly cursed to himself for not seeing this earlier; Kiryuu must have wanted to know who the person who gave him the order to go for the woman was. Yesterday he had a message from _him_, regarding his next orders.

The message was not written in paper, it never was. It was usually a certain object with some engravings within it. The object was carefully selected so it would not lead to the giver. However, he could never be too sure what the hunter would be able to conclude from the objects he found if he were to get into his study. The young president of hunter association wasn't known to be predictable at the least.

He finally arrived at the Belmont mansion his father was so proud of, letting his coat be taken off and questioning of any suspicious activity in the mansion only to receive negative reply. He nodded absently and headed straight to his study that was in the second floor. He entered his study carefully, not turning on the lights; his green eyes swept the room for any signs of unwanted presence. He didn't lower his guard even as his eyes found nothing suspicious, his hand already went to the small knives he had under his sleeves.

"Old habits die hard, don't they?"

It took less than a second for him to locate the source of the voice and threw the knife. He could hear the sound of the knife embedded into something. He heard a few claps and staggered back instinctively at the sudden change in the surroundings when the lights were turned on. Not wanting to be caught off guard, he threw another pair of knives to the source of the claps.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found the very man that caused him to return to his mansion immediately standing casually in his study, the knives he threw were embedded on the shelves and walls behind him while one was between the other man's raised fingers, failing to reach their target.

"Only hunters feel the need to carry weapons. Isn't it right, former hunter, Jacques Belmont?" Silver eyes calmly met green eyes. The knife fell harmlessly to the ground.

"I'm honored that my name is known to the infamous president Kiryuu," Belmont didn't want to be caught off guard anymore, quickly regaining his composure, "To what do I owe you this visit?"

"You know why I'm here, _Gentleman_," Zero intentionally used the name Belmont made of himself as he slowly walked around the man.

"I suppose. Enlighten me," Belmont shrugged lightly, as if he didn't know what the younger man meant.

"Few nights ago you and your underlings, Rousseau, Beauvais, and Laroche followed and attacked a young woman named Misaki Hisakawa, wounding her gravely and would've killed her if not for the sudden interference of police officers. One of them managed to identify you as the one standing closest to her."

"Is that so?" Belmont raised an elegant eyebrow without letting his eyes off the hunter.

"Well-dressed man in the forties, monocle on his right eye."

"That's not enough."

"Believe me, it's more than enough," there was a glimpse of a derisive smile on his face. "And you made it easier for me to confirm it. It was you, wasn't it?" It was not a question, they both knew it. Belmont knew that it would be no use skirting around.

"Yes, it was me, president Kiryuu." Belmont's eyes were no longer nonchalant, instead those green depths were challenging. "What about it?"

Zero didn't react to the open acknowledgment; he merely stood before him, completely unfazed.

"Why did you do it?"

"Didn't you know already? Because of this," he gestured his presence in his study, "of this reaction coming from _you._" This time it was Belmont who moved towards Zero, trying to intimidate the other man.

"She is someone dear to you, isn't she?" Belmont had a pleased smile on his face, a smile that Zero wanted badly to wipe off his face, but he held tight onto the reins of his emotions, not letting any signs of anger to show.

"Zero Kiryuu… We're both actually the same. Hunters who became the very thing they hunted. However, unlike you, I chose to serve the one who is worthier of me, of my skills, of my servitude. The one who could give me everything I wanted. I pity you, the last of the famous Kiryuus who was bound to the life of hunters that you must bow to those pathetic human councils of yours with such strength that surpassed all hunters, even the nobles of vampires. Yet you have to become the leader of the association and take a stand against us. Your presence is a threat, but we found no weakness.

"It was a gamble, actually. We only saw few sightings of you with her and it was rare and far in between. It was nothing compared with the time you spent with the pureblooded Kuran princess which you seem to have a liking for. But she was, after all, under the Kuran's protection, going after her would be suicide. Until few months ago, one of my men happened to smell her blood.

"And it had your scent."

His body immediately tensed, seeing the complete satisfaction on the vampire's face. Zero clenched his hands tightly, trying to suppress the violent shaking.

"I confirmed it myself, that night. She certainly had your blood in her veins. Though I must say that I can understand your interest in her, she didn't only have luscious scent. Her blood tasted wonderful."

"Who ordered you?" Zero growled, no longer able to contain his anger.

"Why would I tell you?" Belmont dared to challenge him, but he didn't realize how grave his mistake was.

"Because that means I have to make you."

All of the sudden, he felt the air around him grow turbulent and without any warning, his skin was sliced open without any sign of weapon causing it. Instinctively he went to the man who remained standing where he was but Zero was no longer holding back the turmoil of emotions that affected his surroundings, in particular, the air around him.

It was only due to his reflexes that he managed to evade the incoming gust of wind that sliced through the bookshelves behind where he had been standing. When he saw the result of the attack, he couldn't hide his surprise. He had heard of the young president's strength with his main hunter weapon, the Bloody Rose, but he never heard of him using his vampire's ability and not in such pureblood level display of power!

Then without warning, the glass windows of his study were cracked and completely shattered into pieces that flew around them, some of them cut through his skin, but Zero was untouched as if there was a barrier around him, protecting him from harm. At first, Belmont was unable to see his opponent's face that was hidden by the shadows, but when he finally did, he couldn't help but wished he didn't. Those silvery depths were cold and cruel, the anger and hatred were no longer concealed.

Zero suddenly disappeared from his sight; Belmont raised his hands right on time to block the man's assault. The nobleman slightly winced when his exposed skin met cold metal that sent jolts of pain to his nerves. Belmont managed to see a glimpse of grey barrel of a gun; it was the infamous Bloody Rose. He pushed the gun back forcefully; throwing the other man's backward. He ignored the uncomfortable tingle from the skin that made contact with the hunter's weapon. After he became a vampire, no hunter weapon managed to get him, until now, he gritted his teeth in anger.

Using the distance between them, he lengthened his nails into claws and started to attack. He relentlessly sent blow after blow at Zero that was managed either to be evaded or blocked easily. The hunter tried to land some blows on him that he also managed to block, but he realized that the silver-haired man never once tried to shoot him, only using the gun to hit him.

He used that slight opening when his hand managed to get hold of the gun, and landed quite a deep gash on his front. Without wincing at the blow landed on him, Zero calmly gave a spinning kick targeting the man's vulnerable side. When he stumbled due to the impact of the kick, Zero finally raised his gun and shot.

Belmont was quick enough to prevent the bullet went through his heart, but not quick enough to completely evade it. He clenched his teeth as the bullet tore through his upper arm. Blood trickled down his injured arm, coppery scent of blood rose to the air. He cursed the hunter's weapon for its ability to slow down the healing process as he jumped backwards, far enough to keep a safe distance away from the younger man who remained completely unaffected, the injuries he inflicted was already healing, leaving no mark on his skin save for torn clothing.

That moment Belmont realized why his master wanted to get rid of Kiryuu so much. This man was too dangerous. Ordinary hunters, regardless their level of skill and the amount of vampires they killed, were not infallible. They had limitations due to their frail, mortal human body. They could still be hurt, worn out, and killed by various methods, unlike vampires. Their weapon was to make up for their limitations, it slowed the fast healing ability of vampires and if it managed to get the heart, the vampires were no more.

But in Zero's case, those limitations were removed since he became a vampire himself _without_ removing his ability in wielding hunter weapon, making him more dangerous than any other hunter. And the fact that his strength was above the nobles' level, if not about the same level with the purebloods, didn't help the matter. Zero Kiryuu was a threat needed to be eliminated whatever the cost was.

Belmont's eyes narrowed in firm resolve, he would bring this man down and he would no longer hold back the full strength that was granted to him.

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Your review would make my day :)


	5. Chapter 4

I'm sorry for such a late update! I've just started working that made me have to live in another city. Since it's an industrial area, there aren't many entertainments around, including internet. I'm also stealing some time to upload this during workhours.

Thanks to Shapby who edited this chapter, despite the complaints. To my most loyal reader and reviewer, Primal Red. You go girl!

I don't think I have to repeat the disclaimer, do I? On with the story!

~Audriel

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**Chapter 4**

Doctor Baudin sat tiredly on his seat in his office, a mug of coffee in one hand and a map of files in the other. He'd just returned from his round up tour in the hospital, checking on the patients and keeping the coma patient as the last of his visits. She was still unresponsive, to his disdain. The only good news was that the twins in her womb didn't share their mother's condition. Her friends were no longer staying by her side all the time, only with great deal of persuading from his part and the other hospital staff who were more experienced in him in handling such thing. They were supposed to enjoy their holidays after all.

They only agreed after he gently implied that their friend wouldn't like them to sacrifice their time for her by spending their days in the hospital by her side. He appealed to them that they could still visit and spend the nights in the hospital, just not all day long. He also promised them to update them for every change in their friend's condition.

Finally they relented, they didn't spend most of their time in the hospital anymore, but they took turns to stay with their comatose friend, whether just for few hours or to spend the night. Their concern and loyalty to their friend amazed him. In times like these he couldn't help to think the difference between humans and vampires.

Vampires were still human if you took away all the extraordinary physical strength they possessed, but due to the years they lived, they became less and less human, such sincere display of emotion that he often saw in hospitals between the patients and their families were become rarer to be seen.

After becoming a servant to Charlemagne, he was getting to understand the reason why. He couldn't really blame them, but he wanted to see these mutual feelings and raw display of emotions to each other, where they gave themselves without asking for anything in return. It might be because of the hierarchical structure of vampire society that was strongly based by their origins, which was rather similar to the animal hierarchy. So he could see where the comparison between vampires and beasts came from, though he couldn't fully agree to the sentiment.

Baudin's mind flew to the young man who concealed his emotions very well behind that cold and detached façade he wore. But for him who had treated so many kinds of people in his prolonged life, he could see the hidden concern beneath the façade. That young hunter was seriously an interesting fellow, he was good in concealing his emotions yet at the same time he was completely honest in his feelings.

The doctor couldn't help to think the description he heard of the man was blown out of proportion, not even close to describe the depth and complexity of the man. Kiryuu was a good man. The hunter could have shot him the moment he recognized him as a vampire servant, which would give him enough reason to. However, Kiryuu gave him the benefit of doubt and gave him a chance to defend himself.

Baudin knew how difficult it was for the silver-haired man to entrust the life someone dear to him to someone else, especially to a pureblood's underling, but he was realistic enough to know this was out of his capability. Because of it, Baudin didn't want to betray the man's trust; he kept close watch on the young woman's conditions, monitoring the slightest change in her condition.

For the past few days Baudin realized there were quite significant changes in her condition, for one was that her injuries were healing slightly faster than normal people. He was surprised to find it at first, knowing that she was a completely normal human with no special powers that he knew of. However, to make sure, he asked for a detailed report regarding her circulatory system.

After his master saved him from the brink of death by giving him his blood, Charlemagne didn't try to hide his other reasons why he did so. The pureblood wanted to learn more of the vampires and their origins, which had been some sort of taboo among them. Little was known about how the first generation of vampires came into existence. The records of that certain part of history seemed to be nonexistent. If they couldn't gather anything from the records, then they could at least guess based from scientific approach, such as genetics.

For that reason, considering his background, Charlemagne chose him and appointed him and a few others the important duty that only selected people were aware of. As such, Baudin knew the physical and biological difference between humans and vampires. When he saw the detailed report of the blood in her system, he couldn't help but stare in complete surprise.

The greatest difference between human and vampire physiology lied mainly in the blood, which was no surprise there, even without further research, one could easily deduce how _different_ they were.

There must be a reason why the blood of those immortals was so sought after and those vampires went to such lengths for the sake of protecting its purity. However, the interesting thing was -which that came out rather as a surprise- that the vampires' blood had the same appearance with humans', it had the composition of blood plasma and cells with the likeness of humans', though the same thing couldn't be said about the constituents and the characteristics of the plasma and the cells.

The red cells of the vampire blood were still rather a mystery to the doctors and scientists working on the research, but they had come to enough understanding of other components, such as the plasma. Recent finding showed how the constituents within the plasma triggered the white cells and platelets to react swiftly to any foreign entity entering the system or any injuries sustained to the person, and how quickly and mercilessly those white cells and platelets got rid of those foreign entity. And yet...

The report of his patient's blood came normal in the first glance, nothing jumped immediately to him, until he looked at the blood plasma. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him; he went as far as rereading the printed letters and wearing the reading glasses that were of no use for him anymore to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. He was completely stunned speechless when he found out that the blood plasma had the same constituents with the blood plasma of vampires, while the other components were normal, or as normal as human blood components should be.

For the last attempt to convince himself that he wasn't wrong, Baudin stood up from his seat and reached out to the hidden compartment beneath his desk where he kept some of his research just in case he would want to work on it in his spare time. He pulled out a beige brief and opened it carefully, leafing through the papers until he found what he was looking for. Laying down the report next to the research paper side by side, there could be no mistake: she had vampire blood plasma. He leaned to his seat, blinking at the newfound information.

He had never seen such partial kind of blood. It was always either normal kind of blood or vampire kind of blood. Either normal plasma with normal cells _or_ vampire plasma with vampire cells, it couldn't be a combination of both.

_Unless_…

He went through the stacks of maps on his left, trying to find the files for the twins and the womb. When he found it, he swiftly opened the files and found the information he needed to know.

During pregnancy, fetal blood doesn't mix with maternal blood; it is nature's way to protect the growing life that has a different circulatory system with the mother. Once again, he found himself stunned speechless, the blood of the twins were similar to the blood of vampires. Could it be that something happened in the placenta so that the children's blood plasma mixed with their mother's?

He picked up the phone and dialed the number of the obstetrician who was responsible for his charge's children. There was only one way to find out.

"Hello, Rian? This is Baudin, there's something I want to ask about the twins…"

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Two figures could be seen on the rooftop overlooking the city lights of Paris. One of them was standing calmly, his hair and coat swaying in the breeze while the other was down on his knees, breathing heavily.

Belmont held his bleeding side that was wounded the worst compared to the wounds he had all over his body. His monocle was tilted, his slicked hair was tousled, his neat suit was crumpled and torn with stains of blood visible. One could hardly recognize him as the Gentleman anymore with his current state.

Meanwhile, on the other side of him, in such a stark contrast, Zero stood calmly, his appearance barely affected by the tense fight that broke between them. There was no wound on him, save for a few stains on his torn clothes. He had his gun pointed at the man's head, his finger ready to pull the trigger.

"It's not going to end here, Kiryuu… You're not going to get to my master or anyone who despises you."

"I'm aware of that. That's why I intend to give Esterházy some warning through you."

The last thing Zero saw on the former hunter's face was a look of complete surprise that was enough to confirm his suspicions and erase all doubts from him to pull the trigger. A resounding noise of gunshot could be heard throughout the rooftop, but couldn't be heard by anyone else. He watched impassively as the man's lifeless body was thrown back and started to reduce into dust and ashes that were quickly blown away by the swift wind over the rooftop.

The man put up quite a fight, Zero must admit, as he checked his body for serious wounds. However, for him who had fought stronger nobles and purebloods on equal grounds, the gentleman was no match for the vampire-created hunter. He walked to the area where the man's body turned into dust and knelt down to pick what was left of Belmont.

It was ironic, he thought, that the way he found out who was the master who gave the orders to Belmont was the same way Belmont found out about her. As they traded blows, continuing their fight outside the noble's mansion after breaking out the study, he started to get used to the scent of his blood and remembered the same scent he once encountered by accident.

In one of the missions to ensure the safety of Eastern Europe of a group of rampant vampires, the association was aided by the nobles and level C vampires under the command of the purebloods of that region; one of them was Nikolaus Esterházy.

That man was the most influential man in Eastern Europe, mainly in Hungary where his lineage ruled. Esterházy sent most of the aids that were also the strongest of them, and because of that reason, he decided to place most of them under his command. In many of their fights, there were times when Esterházy's servants were injured and he could smell another's blood on their blood. It occurred to him later that the pureblood master might give his blood to them, as he gave the precious blood to Belmont.

He wasn't so sure at first, but the reaction towards his name when he said it to Belmont's face simply confirmed it. It was a gamble indeed; the man was least likely compared to his underlings to give away any further information regarding his master. However, he couldn't deny the satisfaction of having it paid off. He placed what was left of the ex-human in his inner pocket, covered with a handkerchief.

There was no longer any need to put off his visit anymore.

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It was long past the visiting time in the hospital. The halls were quiet and deserted. He didn't encounter any passerby or nurse as he walked in the direction of her room. His steps didn't make any noise on the clean, polished floors-more out of habit than of want. He stopped before the door, hesitating before finally daring to slowly open the door.

He was slightly surprised and relieved to find no one in the room, although with a swift glance around, he could see signs of others' previous presence in the room: few pillows on one couch and blanket on the other couch close to the door. Some books and papers stacked neatly on the coffee table. It seemed her friend spent some nights here. Tonight was not one of those nights.

He was relieved that they didn't. It was hard enough trying to get himself inside the room and to look at her. Having to see her friends' worried faces wouldn't help. He had yet let his eyes linger on her lying form on the hospital bed, taking slow, hesitant steps to her side.

Only when he could not step any further, he finally looked upon her.

Her eyes were closed, her fair hair loose, framing her pale face. She seemed so peaceful, so still, that he almost thought that she was gone forever, but the slight rise and fall of her chest assured him that she was still alive, however barely she was. The only sign of injuries he could see was the bandages on the back of her head that was likely where her head hit the wall. Other than that he saw no other injuries.

His heart ached to see the state Misaki was in, especially knowing that he was the cause of it. He wasn't sure how her blood would have his scent, but he truly wished it didn't, for it was what made Belmont sure that she was the one to go after in order to get him. He couldn't resist the temptation to touch her, wanting to be assured that this was just a bad dream, a dream he would wake up from. But his fingers touched soft, cool cheek that was so hauntingly real that he couldn't deny the harsh reality of it.

Absently he traced the outline of her face, something he would not dare to do if she was awake, or if it was any other time. He felt a great need to be consoled, to be assured, and the closest source of comfort was her presence, her warmth, her smooth skin under his fingertips, telling him that she was here, with him although she wasn't there to talk to him, to smile or to scold him.

Then he felt a gentle nudge against his mind, it was so gentle that he almost ignored it. But the nudge was persistent… and warm.

He turned his head slightly, trying to figure what the feeling was and where the feeling came from. His silver eyes examined the room but found nothing and when his eyes returned to look at her, his sharp eyes caught the sheet covering her abdomen. He carefully placed a hand over the sheets and felt the gentle swell of her abdomen. The swell felt warm and pulsating with life, _no_, he thought, _with lives_. He could sense the twins, their presence was no less bright and warm and strong as their mother's.

A slight smile found its way to his sad and worn face. They were truly their mother's children, he thought. There was a note of affection as he thought of the children and their mother. In that moment, in the safety of the silence, in the presence of her and her children, he dropped all the pretenses and let everything he had set aside for so long to finally catch up with him. The pain, the sadness, the anger, the guilt, the weariness, the hatred… Everything returned to him, full force, hitting him so hard that it nearly swept him off his feet. The only thing that held him together was the slightest hope that he hadn't lost everything yet. That was all he had.

That was all he had.

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It was the sliver of light slipping through the curtains of the window that woke him up. He couldn't remember when or how he ended up falling asleep on the couch. His hand instinctively went to cover his eyes and to recognize his surroundings. His weary eyes fell lastly on the unmoving figure on the bed. His eyes were sad as he gazed on the figure long enough as if he were thinking if he were to look long enough he would see movements. But nothing happened; she remained unconscious and unresponsive.

Then he heard the sound of the doorknob turning, his eyes warily turned toward the newcomer only to find a young nurse who was flabbergasted when she saw him.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know there's someone here."

Zero merely shrugged off the apology, returning to his quiet self once again. He watched silently as the nurse went to check Misaki's vitals and opened the curtains to let the sunlight in. Before the nurse excused herself, he stopped her,

"Is Doctor Baudin here?"

"I think so, last night was his shift. Would you like for me to get him?"

Finding no further need for words, he just nodded and didn't seem to realize the nurse's retreating presence. He returned to his initial position, seated with his back on the couch, gazing at the young woman lying unconscious before him.

That was how Baudin found him after a young nurse –-Suzanna, if he recalled her name correctly- knocked on his door and woke him up from his sleep to tell him that someone who seemed to be a friend or a relative of his charge was asking for him.

He was still sleepy and trying to wake himself up by making a cup of coffee when the young woman shyly described the person was a handsome silver-haired man. He was immediately jolted awake. In the end he didn't really need the coffee; after thanking her, he got himself together and headed to the room.

The man didn't seem to notice his presence, and Baudin himself felt reluctant to announce his presence, feeling that he was intruding a private moment. However, as the vampire servant stood undecided whether to remain or to leave, he was saved from that decision.

"Doctor Baudin." Zero didn't look at him when he said his name, a greeting, the aged man thought.

"Monsieur Kiryuu," he returned the greeting rather nervously. Then he realized the state the younger man was in, or at least the state of his clothing. His white shirt was torn at several places, mostly narrow and small, the rest were wide and long, as if something long and sharp tore through his clothing. The only signs of any injuries he might have sustained were the flecks of brown against white. He eyed the coat laid on the armrest of the couch, thinking the state of the dark coat was in worse condition. Otherwise, the man seemed perfectly fine.

"Are you… alright?" He couldn't help to ask. He could never ignore anyone wounded or dying; that was the part that made him a doctor, and that kept him as one, despite everything.

"It's nothing." Zero seemed to read the line of his thoughts, although he never once met his eyes after he greeted him. Baudin followed his gaze which remained on the young lady.

"She's getting better," Baudin paused, "Actually, she's healing faster than expected."

Baudin knew he had Kiryuu's full attention, although the younger man barely moved at his statement. In a way, he was grateful, because it was giving him time to gather his wits to tell Kiryuu his discovery. He held no illusion that it might not be well received by the hunter.

"As a doctor and a scientist, I have quite an interest in the difference between human and vampire's body, which lies mainly in the blood," Baudin rambled rather nervously, steeling himself to say what he had to say, "I found that… her blood plasma is similar to that of vampires."

At that, the hunter's head snapped up, silver eyes meeting his brown ones sharply. As prepared as he was for the reaction, Baudin couldn't help but instinctively stepped back, wincing at the piercing stare.

"She's not a vampire." His tone was flat, breaking no argument and having no doubt regarding her humanity.

"No, she's not a vampire," Baudin said quickly, visibly straightening as he tried to placate Kiryuu before he could do anything drastic, "And as I mentioned, _only_ her blood plasma."

"How that could be?" The slightest frown marred Zero's features, but the wariness was still there.

"I had my suspicions and it was confirmed by Doctor Rian, the obstetrician who's in charge of the twins and their mother," Baudin seated himself on the other side of the couch, wanting to explain this thoroughly, ignoring his own fear that made his stomach clench uncomfortably, "Normally, the blood of the fetus and the mother don't mix, it's the way for the fetus to survive in the womb of the mother who has a different condition with it. However, in this case… there's a mix between the twins' and their mother's. Strangely, the mix only happens within the plasma so it didn't affect the twin's conditions much."

Zero was silenced, realizing the implication and the words unspoken. His eyes turned thoughtful, no longer piercing, and that relieved Baudin, at least for a while.

"The twins… are vampires?"

"I don't know," Baudin admitted openly, his confusion clear, "I've never had a chance to go as far as examining vampire children, but all I know, the children don't seem to show any kind of unusual behavior that I'm aware of. Other than their blood, they're completely normal."

The president of the hunter association could only run a hand in his hair in frustration. Not only they were twins, they also had to inherit their father's vampire blood. It seemed as if fate made a cruel joke of him, that his children had to suffer his fate, his _curse_. It was the last thing he ever wanted of them.

Baudin who saw the look in his face couldn't help to feel guilty; he knew the man wanted the children to be as normal as possible, but Baudin still had hope that it might not be that way.

"There's still a chance that these children only inherit some of the traits and also inherit some of their mother's normal traits. However, this discovery led me to find a possible solution for her to regain her consciousness."

Zero turned his head to look at the older man; disbelief was the first emotion Baudin saw, but the doctor caught a glimpse of raw hope underneath his façade.

"It's clear that the blood plasma of the twins aids her recovery, but it's not enough, considering that the children still need the plasma for themselves and their mother needs more to heal herself. It's been well-known that the blood of the purebloods is considered precious due to its ability to strengthen… or heal."

"Are you telling me to ask for a pureblood's blood?" Zero couldn't keep the bitterness out of his tone; he had enough of the purebloods. First Kuran, then Esterházy.

"No. I'm asking for yours."

Stunned silence greeted those words.

At first Zero thought it was a joke of some sorts, but seeing the serious look on the doctor's face, he knew it wasn't and he grew to learn that the man took his promise seriously to find a way for her to regain her consciousness. But still, he couldn't grasp how his blood… his a_ccursed, tainted _blood could actually help her.

"The children… they're yours, aren't they?" Finally Baudin brought out the suspicions he had of the identity of the twins' father to the surface. The silver-haired man didn't say anything, but he didn't deny it, and that was the only confirmation Baudin needed.

"The twins definitely inherited your blood, that's why their blood can help their mother's recovery. Normal vampires' blood doesn't have such effect. Only purebloods. This means, your blood has the same effect with purebloods' blood.

"The blood of purebloods can strengthen or poison one's body. Even if I were to ask for my master's blood or any other purebloods, there's a chance instead of healing her, it would kill her. But the fact that the twins' blood heals her could only mean that their blood… which is also yours… is compatible with her."

Zero let out a tired sigh; this was all too much for him. He absently rubbed his temple, leaning back on the couch. The doctor didn't leave anything in his explanation so he could follow his line of thinking easily. As absurd as it was, as difficult it was for him to believe, he couldn't just dismiss it.

He couldn't help to let out a bitter chuckle, he was often compared to purebloods in strength, but if this true, then it would mean that he was nearly no different to a pureblood himself. After being changed into the one he despised most as a hunter, he also became the very kind he despised most as a vampire. He didn't know what to say about that.

"Would it work?" In the end, his feelings didn't matter with this newfound information; what mattered was for her to recover and to wake up.

"We could test a sample of her blood with your blood. I already have the permission to use the hospital's laboratory equipments."

Zero gave a brief glance towards her before finally making his decision and nodded his consent to the doctor to test this theory, however wild and unbelievable it was. He followed the shorter man through a series of hallways until they stopped before a glass door that immediately slid open when the doctor swiped his ID over the scanner. He was greeted with the sight of the most advanced medical equipments which he recognized as the equipments he ordered under the suggestion of the hunters' best medic should the need arise for them.

The doctor went to the cabinet to get the required equipments after gesturing him to sit on one of the chairs close to the table that separated him from the doctor. He watched how the already-older-than-his-appearance doctor skillfully prepared the necessary equipments and took his blood that he barely felt the tip of the syringe prick him.

"I took a sample of her blood earlier…" Baudin swiftly took a sample of Misaki's blood in a small tube out of the fridge and laid it down on the table.

Baudin dropped few of her blood on a Petri dish, followed by a few drops of Zero's. One of the first things Zero noticed was how his blood easily mixed with her blood. Normal humans wouldn't be able to notice it, for there was little difference between their bloods, but for them both who were anything but normal human could easily notice the reaction between the two different bloods. Baudin didn't say anything, but put the Petri dish under the microscope to have a better look on the blood and the reaction between them.

"This is her normal blood," Baudin made a microscopic view of Misaki's normal blood with its constituents on one side of the screen.

"This is her blood with yours." Baudin brought out the microscopic view of the blood mixed with his and its constituents on the other side of the screen. His sharp eyes quickly noted the difference between the two images and constituents, although he couldn't fully interpret it as well as the doctor.

"As you can see, there's a difference in the white cells…" Baudin pointed to the largest, uneven blood cell, "platelets..." to the smallest of the cells, "and the constituents.

"They're not changing into the kind of blood that vampires have, but it clearly strengthens the blood's healing ability by the increase in the white cells and platelets' number and the constituents of blood plasma that aids the healing process… And seeing the time of reaction…" Baudin didn't hide his amazement; it was plain on his features. Eventually he turned to look at the younger man,

"This might work," the doctor told him in excitement at the discovery, but immediately contained himself, knowing that the decision was not his to make, so he turned towards Zero, "The decision is yours."

The reaction Zero saw on the sample of her blood given his blood was promising. The only difficulty was to completely believe that everything Baudin showed him was true and that there was nothing the man was hiding from him.

Because if it was simply to give him false hope, Baudin definitely had.

He was running out of options, Zero painfully realized. However, as he looked at the man before him, he could see no trace of malice, no hint of lies and deceit; he saw no reason not to trust the doctor.

"Doctor, I'm not a man who can easily trust people."

Baudin was startled with the unexpected words coming from the hunter, especially the deathly serious look on his face. Those silvery depths seemed to bore through him, measuring him, judging him, laying him completely bare before his merciless stare. He couldn't help to feel his insides squirm in discomfort with such gaze upon himself.

The man gulped nervously, he knew that it would very difficult for Kiryuu to entrust such an important task to him, when they barely knew each other. Him being a vampire's servant didn't help. He couldn't blame the man. The risk was too high. When Baudin gave his blood to his patient, there was no way to take it back. If anything went wrong, things could take a drastic turn for both the mother and the children. Just as he thought Kiryuu wouldn't go through with it, he was once again taken aback.

"How much of my blood do you need?"

I

I

I

Zero absently rubbed the raw skin between the folds of his arm where the blood had been drawn from him. He decided to place his trust in Baudin after going through everything he knew of the man in his mind. The man was certainly considered as the senior doctor in the hospital, seeing how easily he had access to everything he might need in order to treat his patient. He also had a good track record as a doctor, based on the quick background check of the doctor with the help of Kirihara. There was nothing suspicious happening in the hospitals Baudin had worked for that would have suggested whatever motives he might have for working as a doctor. Not to mention the hospitals he worked for would have noticed if there was anything amiss.

Not only Baudin was certified in human physiology, he was also more than knowledgeable regarding vampire physiology. It was something that made Zero extremely wary because he couldn't figure why the doctor could gain such knowledge. Unlike human physiology, the knowledge regarding vampire physiology wasn't public knowledge. He could only suspect that Charlemagne was behind this.

And there was Charlemagne himself.

Zero only met the European pureblood a handful of times, but he already had a good impression of the man, which was pretty surprising even to himself. He still had certain distrust towards purebloods that wouldn't easily fade away. However, the most influential man in Europe was nothing quite like he had expected from a man with such status and position. There was sincerity in his words and gestures.

He was a man of honor and integrity.

Charlemagne must be a shrewd man, being the one chosen to lead the purebloods in Europe. He must have a reason behind everything he did, which included this certain servant of his, for reasons that were clear to Zero and for reasons that weren't. He would count on Charlemagne's honor and integrity and that his servant followed the same code with his master.

He would leave her life in Baudin's hands. Meanwhile, he had some things to take care of. One of them was to send a message to a certain pureblood before everything was taken care of.

Zero stood by her side, his gaze was gentle as he observed that the previously pale and drawn face had regained its healthy honey color and that the bandages once wrapped around her were already removed leaving barely any wounds in its wake.

Baudin immediately informed him by himself when the doctor found him in the hospital after being gone from more than 24 hours of the miraculous recovery. Miraculous recovery, he thought with amusement to himself, that was what Baudin told and convinced the other doctors and nurses. He suspected the man even used a bit of his master's gift in order to do so.

The wounds were healing well, so well that they barely left any marks on her body. The skin was smooth once again. The organs and bones that were damaged were whole again. It was as if the incident never happened to her. The brain was no different, especially the badly damaged frontal lobe. It was a matter of time before her brain could function normally once again, and for her to regain consciousness.

He was truly grateful for the man's efforts and for the chance given to him to see those clear blue eyes once again. He was more than relieved that he didn't lose her forever and the children didn't lose their mother. He closed his eyes, wanting to feel the twins' presence in his mind and he wasn't disappointed. The twins gave the familiar nudge when they sensed him reaching to them, giving him assurance that they would not become another twin like him and Ichiru. They were both strong and healthy; neither was lesser than the other.

And then there was their mother.

He knew that she would love them, regardless of the circumstances of their conception and he couldn't think that there wouldn't be a better mother for them. He had no slightest doubt in her. But he couldn't say the same for himself.

He didn't want to leave her all alone with the burden of taking care of their children, their extraordinary children who definitely inherited his blood. However, he was afraid that he wasn't ready for the responsibility and he wasn't ready for the danger he would bring to them if he were to acknowledge them.

There were enough people going after him now, when they didn't know of her and the twins. He didn't know what those people would do if they found out about them, and he wasn't willing to find out, not now, not ever.

He wanted to give them a normal life… a safer life where they didn't need to worry themselves about humans and vampires' affairs, where they can laugh and smile happily together. He didn't want them to suffer his fate.

And he knew that the only way that could happen was for them to sever all ties with him.

The thought alone pained him greatly, but if this was the cost for keeping them safe, he would do it in a heartbeat. His feelings didn't matter.

Reluctantly he laid her hand down, part of him didn't want to let go, but the other part of him that rationalized that the longer he stayed the longer he kept her in danger made him let go. He looked at her as if he was trying to keep her image burned in his mind. Only when he started to see her lying there, pale and lifeless, he could take the first steps away from her. Every step was heavy, as if his feet were made from lead. It took all of his willpower to remove himself from her side, and to finally turn away from her.

"Ah, Kiryuu."

It was Tanya and Sonia. They seemed they were just coming from grocery shopping, if the bags and the contents they were carrying were any indication. Surprise was evident on their faces to see him here. Part of him was relieved, and another was dismayed at Misaki's friends' appearance. Relieved, because it gave him reason to leave, instead to stay. Dismayed, because they were the last people whom he encountered when he was leaving. He knew what he was doing looked like, and he didn't try to pretend otherwise. It's the only way.

Despite his inner turmoil, Zero's face remained impassive, merely nodding in greeting before continuing his way to the exit. Sonia who realized his intention nudged her friend to get inside while she caught up with him.

"Wait!"

Sonia took a mouthful of air after she finally caught up with the silver-haired man outside the hospital. Kiryuu was surprisingly fast and she had to run all the way to get to him. When she straightened up, she fearlessly met his eyes.

"You're leaving her again?" There was a fleeting flash of pain when she said that, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"I cannot stay."

"Why? She needs you." There was a slight surprise in his face as she said this. "You mean a lot to her, although she never says anything."

There was no immediate response to her words. She wondered if she was being too blunt.

"You were right. I was the reason why she was hurt," Sonia was ready to interject when his hand was raised, stopping her, "If I'm to stay, she'll be in more danger. _They_ will be."

The mention of the twins silenced her. Sonia didn't expect that her wild accusation was actually correct, and was actually that serious.

"Then you'll just leave?" Sonia couldn't conceal the incredulity and accusation in her tone.

"It's for the best," was only his answer, "The lesser people know of me and of our relationship the better… I'll leave them to you."

When Sonia saw the look in his eyes, she knew there was no changing his mind. She couldn't object any further for she wasn't aware of the dangers as well as he was and she didn't want to gamble on her friend and the twins' lives. But she immediately knew the gravity of the situation when the man asked her to take care of her and his children. He was leaving the safety of the ones he cared in other people's hands. It was a difficult decision for him, she was completely aware of it, so she merely looked at him in the eye.

"I will, even without you telling me."

There was a vague resemblance of what might be a smirk, but she didn't have the time to make sure for the man without saying any other word and without looking back simply turned his back on her and left, leaving her stunned in the middle of the crowded streets of Paris.

I

I

I

In Eisenstadt, Austria, a castle could be seen looming in a distance. Its beauty and magnificence were only accentuated with the darkening of the horizon as the sun slowly set.

_Schloss Esterházy _was not only renowned for its baroque splendor and neo-classical austerity with reminiscences of the Austrian Biedermeier style but also for the ones who resided within the once a fortress castle. _Schloss Esterházy_ was one of the estates that the Hungarian noble family was in possession of that reflected their influence and wealth that also acted as the principal residence and center of administration of the family.

In one of the decorated hallways filled with various antique ornaments, a man dressed elegantly in a suit was walking with long strides to the room where the current head of the Esterházy usually spent his time governing every affair concerning the noble family. His strides were swift and decisive, one would have thought it was the normal way the man carried himself, but for those who were observant enough would realize the urgency within every gesture. It might be related to the box the man carried in his right hand.

When he reached the large oaken door, the man didn't bother to knock or even to announce his presence, barging into the study while ignoring all the courtesy he was supposedly to give to one of the most influential purebloods.

A man was scribing with an ink pen on the large wooden table. He had the appearance of a man in his prime, his eyes were dark brown and so was his combed hair. A neat moustache adorned his stern features, giving the best impression of one with all the power and authority. He didn't seem the slightest bit affected by the sudden intrusion into his study.

"That was unlike you to barge in through my doors like that, Anton."

"Forgive me, Lord Miklós," the man bowed respectfully, although his expression was unapologetic, "But something came up and would require your immediate attention."

"What is it?" Miklós or Nikolaus Esterházy finally straightened up, giving his right-hand man his attention. The other man closed the door to the study first before he moved forward and placed the previously paper-covered box he carried.

"This just arrived through the mail."

The man raised a thick eyebrow at the other man's lack of explanation, while a slight frown marred his features. He eyed the box warily; the box was small enough to fit a grown man's hand. There was nothing unusual with the appearance of the box. It was just one of the ordinary boxes people used to send something through the mail.

He took the box and checked of the paper wrappings, finding only his name and address scribbled upon it. There was nothing else that gave away the identity of the sender, not even any stamp that might tell where the package was sent from. It was definitely a suspicious package, and it was the content that made it matter, and that made his most trusted man go to him immediately.

Knowing that his man most likely had checked the content previously, he removed the lid of the box to see what was inside. His brown eyes widened imperceptibly the moment he saw a broken monocle within the box. The spectacle had a hole broken through it; suspiciously resembling a bullet that went through it and whoever wore the monocle, noticing the stains and subtle scent of blood from the spectacle.

His grey eyes narrowed slightly, going through several possibilities of the meaning of this certain package.

"Have you tried to locate the Gentleman?"

"I've contacted Pál to locate him. He should be reporting back in by now."

As if on cue, the antique telephone sitting on the corner of the table started ringing. Nikolaus picked up the telephone receiver and brought it to his ear. The voice that greeted him from the other line with a slight French accent easily identified the man as his distant cousin he positioned in France to overlook important matters there and in most western Europe.

"Cousin," he greeted in their mother tongue. "What do you have of our dear friend?"

"The Belmonts are being exceptionally quiet about their heir's sudden disappearance."

That one sentence easily summarized what happened to his servant.

"What happened?"

"I've managed to get some information from the servants of the mansion. It seemed there was a fight in the study. The room was badly damaged, especially the windows. From the shards of the glass scattered around, it seemed that the fight continued outside. I sent my men to check the alleys and the rooftop of the surrounding areas. We found traces of the fight, especially blood stains. It came back mostly Belmont's."

"And the rest?"

"The sample was not enough to have definite identification, but it was tested positive for vampire blood."

"Ah I see. Thank you, Pál. There's no need for further investigation."

"Alright. I'll just keep an eye on things, Miklós." With that the line went dead. Esterházy returned the receiver to its hook calmly.

"You're not going to make certain that he's truly dead?" Anton queried, having followed the conversation on the phone without fail.

"There's no need. Belmont never stood a chance against him. He was… after all the hunter of the hunters… He might have better restraint of his hunter instinct, but he would give no mercy when he decided on his prey… He would leave no remains."

Nikolaus picked up the box, looking at the gleaming spectacle that had become the Gentleman's trademark. "Unless he wanted to leave a message."

"You think it's Kiryuu?" There was a hint of wariness in the tone of Anton's words, making him inwardly smile at the man's trust in his judgment although knowing that there was not enough evidence to prove his suspicions.

"I know the Gentleman had enough enemies that wanted him dead, hunters and vampires alike, but he was too cunning and skillful for them. No ordinary hunter or vampire could take him down," Esterházy knew the capability of Belmont well; it was the very reason why he chose him of all people to become his servant.

"From the reports of the scene, Belmont was on the losing side," Anton observed quietly. An observation Esterházy agreed on. "And there shouldn't be much traces of blood with his healing ability…"

"Unless a hunter's weapon was used," Esterházy had come to the same conclusion. He leaned back to his seat, his eyes returned to the box. "There are few vampires who can handle a hunter's weapon, but fewer who had the reason to go after Belmont, and only one of them who can handle a hunter's gun," his mind quickly reached that conclusion, remembering the bullet hole left in the spectacle.

"Then it meant that he found out that you were the one behind the order given to Belmont."

"That's why he sent this to me. As a warning." His dark brown eyes narrowed in anger, holding the small box so tightly that it broke mercilessly under the pressure.

"What do you intend to do, milord?"

Esterházy went over every piece of information he had regarding the gentleman's last assignment. The former hunter was ordered to find a weakness he could exploit in the president of the association.

He had reported of his particular visit to Paris and some sightings of him with a young woman. He was sent the picture and complete information of the woman whose name was Misaki Hisakawa.

There was nothing special in the files save for the fact she also went to the same school with the hunter leader. However, for the man who reminded him of a lone wolf to actually bother to spare some time with someone. He decided that it was worth a try, he had ordered the man to simply hurt her enough to leave some message and get some reaction of the impenetrable Kiryuu. Which he did, but not the reaction that he expected.

The man didn't react immediately, or visibly. He had no warnings of his presence in Europe or sightings of his movements. He was being completely calm and rational of everything to the point the hunter managed to figure that he was the one behind everything and he didn't know what hit him until he received the package sent to him.

He had underestimated the much younger man by many centuries. He didn't think that the man would go to such lengths. And he didn't intend to let the man to catch him off guard anymore. Right now, he was the one at disadvantage, and he would carefully tread between the lines.

"Nothing. Right now, there's nothing we can do, but to keep an eye on him. We cannot underestimate Kiryuu anymore. Not anymore," he stressed his words to Anton, wanting him not to lower his guard against the young president.

He didn't intend to lose against the last Kiryuu, especially to the hunter who gained his powers from those traitorous purebloods. He would make sure that the hunter would regret his move against him, Miklós Esterházy.

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PleasePleasePlease Read and Review! :D


	6. Chapter 5

Life happens. Nuff said.

And it happens to my sole beta too, so, instead of waiting for her, I put this up after proof-reading it by myself. There might be some things I missed, but I hope it won't disturb your reading.

Thus I present you the latest chapter of Shades of Grey.

~Audriel

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_Darkness._

_Swirling mass of colors._

_Splatter of blue and yellow._

_A lion-bodied eagle._

_A griffin._

_A curved blade and three red flowers._

_The flowers turned blood-red._

_Blood stained blue and yellow._

_People suffering._

_People dying._

_A man's sorrowful cry._

_Another hidden in the shadows._

_Silvery grey eyes gleaming, filled with icy rage._

In the darkness of the room, the sleeping figure that was huddled beneath the covers suddenly tensed, brilliant blue eyes snapping open. The figure lay unmoving in the bed, save for those eyes that blinked owlishly and for those small shoulders that trembled with every rapid intake of breath.

Eventually she relaxed, her breathing evened out, her eyes lost the haunted look. She turned to her back, closing her eyes and letting out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, shedding beads of perspiration and strands of golden hair from her forehead.

_Another vision…_

Visions could come anytime and anywhere. It could appear at the least expected time or place. It took her years to be able to suppress and summon them at will, but even so, she couldn't completely control them. In the end, the best method was to simply ignore them and they would just pass her by, just like the sceneries she saw through the window of a speeding train: she wouldn't see anything unless she paid attention to them. It was not the case with dreams, or to be more exact, visions that came through dreams.

Misaki had long forsaken normal dreams since she was young, barely a child of four, and ever since, her dreams were rarely the place she sought after. Sleep was not something she welcomed, but dreaded. There were ordinary dreams that should be a manifestation of her subconscious, but they were few and rare, and usually mixed with her visions. Soon she associated sleep with dreams and dreams with visions and her young self decided to deprive herself of sleep simply because she didn't want to dream anything. It didn't end well.

So it was safe to say she never attempted such thing anymore, and learned to give in, instead of fighting back. Surprisingly, sleep became easier to her and there were times, when she was granted dreamless sleep, completely pulled into the darkest recesses of her subconscious where visions could not reach her.

She had inherited not only her mother's strong foresight that led her to start seeing visions in such a young age, but also her frail health that made her more prone to illness. It wasn't a rare occurrence of her falling ill whenever she experienced particularly distressing visions. That was why her father decided for her never to sleep on her own, whether accompanied by one of her sisters, and later Miyu, out of concern for her wellbeing. She had only made her family worried about her ever since they found out of the visions.

Because of that, the very first ability she learned was how to hide her emotions and pretend that everything was alright, that _she_ was alright. She had perfected the ability that no one ever noticed whenever she was experiencing visions, not even her closest friends. However, than the ability to pretend, she wished more not to have this foresight, or at the least, the ability not to _care_.

Visions that came through dreams were difficult to ignore, especially visions that came up in great frequency that signified that probability of them happening. If they were simple visions with little or no consequence, she could live with, but if they were not… She couldn't just turn a blind eye and do _nothing_, unless that was the best course action in order to prevent much worse reality than her vision. And it _hurt_, because she cared too much.

This certain vision had plagued her for months, whispering to her in the day, bellowing to her at night, telling her what would happen in the future and she was to let it happen. She had yet to fully decipher the meaning of the vision and the reason to let it happen, but she had her suspicions. She had requested for the latest news in Eastern Europe, it would simply be a matter of time. However, she found herself unable to rest easy.

Ever since this certain vision started, it somehow always ended up the same way, with silver eyes glinting dangerously in the darkness.

Misaki opened her eyes, staring absently at the ceilings above her. She could only think of one person with those eyes and she didn't know whether it was either good or bad omen. He wouldn't do such a thing, right? At least not without a good reason.

She blew out a breath, not letting her mind drifted too far by focusing her attention towards the paneled ceilings and started to trace the engravings with her eyes, a practice that had been proved effective since she was young. She was broken out of her reverie when she felt something in the back of her mind.

Immediately she pulled herself up from bed, waves of gold cascaded down her shoulders loosely with her movement. She slipped out from under the covers and out of the bed and headed towards her destination without further thought. Right when she slowly and carefully opened the door to the room, the familiar cries of a newborn could be heard behind the door. A brief affectionate smile appeared on her face before she crossed the dimly lit room to the crib holding her babies.

"Hush… _Okaasan_'s here…" she spoke softly to her crying children, and soon, as if they recognized the voice of their mother, their cries turned slightly more subdued. She picked up her son's first this time as it was his turn now, settling him comfortably in the crook of her arms and lightly bouncing him, which earned her a wet, cheery gurgle that never failed to make her smile. She figured this kind of reaction would become rare as he grew up; Kazuki was too much like his father.

It was clear to her the moment she laid her eyes on them. The twins were certainly their father's children; she couldn't help but to see Zero in them from their appearance to their silence. The only thing they seemed to inherit from her was her blue eyes. Sonia had mentioned how wrong it was to see her eyes in a face too similar to the hunter's. Tanya had scolded their friend for that insensitive comment, but didn't disagree with the sentiment, she noticed.

The smile on her face grew wider at the thought of her friends who remained with her through everything. Despite their prior misgivings, they readily offered their assistance whenever she needed help with the children. Tanya was good with children, which was no surprise, considering that she came from a large family, so Misaki learned most of practical parts of child-rearing from her and surprisingly, Baudin. Sonia was another case, she made faces whenever she had to change the diapers, but she did it anyway, when there was no else to do it, and even if she didn't openly admit it, the dark-haired woman had grown fond of the children.

Her friends and the doctor also looked after the children while she was gone, so she didn't need to bring them along with her. They would also gladly offer their assistance whenever the twins woke up in the middle of the night, but she gently refused, feeling they had done enough for her and her children and felt that it would be easier if it was her alone.

Somehow she was uniquely attuned to her children's thoughts and emotions. She could easily figure what her children wanted and when they wanted her: how she managed to wake up before she could even hear their cries was an example. Maybe it was the inborn instinct for every mother, or maybe it was something else. She lightly shook her head in affectionate exasperation, inwardly wondering how easily she shrugged it off as if it was common occurrence.

Her life had been turned upside down so many times that she barely batted an eyelash whenever she was faced with things that forced her to abandon her previous assumptions and that she learned to simply accept things as they were, no questions asked. Her current situation was one of them; sometimes she could hardly believe how things turned out this way, how they all ended up together and sharing the old doctor's mansion together.

Deciding against sitting down while nursing Kazuki, she stood by the crib with one hand holding his son and the other on her daughter who took one of her fingers in a firm hold. Misaki knew that she wouldn't be able to do this in few months, or maybe in few weeks, her children seemed to grow so fast. When they were born, they were so small, so light compared to other babies that she couldn't help but worried of them. Baudin told them that there was nothing to be worried about, that it was normal for twins, considering they had to share their mother's womb with each other.

Her children had always been in her mind ever since she learned of their growing presence within her, keeping her wide awake at night and haunting her dreams, which barely gave her the reassurance she needed. She avoided looking into their future, fearing for the worst and not wanting to be discouraged. She realized that her circumstances were anything but ordinary since the very beginning. The manner of the conception, the father of the twins, the twins… and herself.

It was rare enough the case of human mother and vampire father, but when the mother was no ordinary human and the father was also no ordinary vampire… there were too many unknown variables, too many dangerous risks.

She had spent most of her pregnancy in fear and dread, whether one day she would find that one of her children was lost to the fate of Kiryuu twins, whether one day she would find out that she was unable to carry them safely to term because of her ill-adjusted body. She had lost her family; she couldn't lose her children, her very own flesh and blood.

She could never feel more grateful for whatever higher being's intervention that brought her under Baudin's care. The man had been nothing but kind and truthful to her the moment she was introduced to him. He hadn't tried to conceal or undermine her condition, expressing his concerns whether she would be able to carry the twins to term, as the twins had shown the early traits of vampire children, while it was common knowledge that the typical behavior of the younglings was to feed off life force, which would be their mother's. That was why pregnancy and labor were such an arduous time for the expecting vampire mothers, but at least, their body was already prepared for such momentous task, which was not the case for their human counterpart if they were carrying vampire children.

The reason why there were little documented vampire children from human mothers might be because there were few of them who actually survived the pregnancy or the labor, and even if there was, for those who deemed themselves as the superior beings, they wouldn't acknowledge openly that they required humans to continue their existence, or that they were involved with unchanged humans. She was made aware of the difficulties that lay ahead by Baudin.

Baudin was completely sympathetic to her plight as he told her everything, not concealing why he had such knowledge that few were privileged to and she sensed sincerity in him and his words. The fact that he was a servant to a pureblood that happened to be in the same place she was treated was enough to raise suspicion, but she couldn't help but to trust the doctor. She knew she was taking a huge risk; everything might be a ploy for her to lower her guard or to get to Zero and the twins, but her intuition told her it was alright to trust him and there were no alarming visions that warned her of impending disaster that might happen from trusting Baudin. So she took her chances.

Still, it came as a surprise when the man came up with the offer for her to stay with him. The offer was rather spoken hurriedly and nervously as though it just came to him by chance, though the reasons he gave her obviously showed how much thought he had put into it. She was not one to look a gift horse in mouth, but she couldn't just accept such a generous offer without knowing at least _why_. And she found it the moment Baudin told her that he lived alone in the mansion. It didn't take her long to accept the offer afterwards.

She had known it wouldn't be easy, but it didn't mean that there weren't times when she wanted to give up, feeling everything was too much for her to bear. She couldn't give up her studies, forcing herself to attend lectures and complete assignments despite her condition that was becoming more apparent to others and became the subject of many people's conversations. She was aware of the stares and whispers directed at her and most of the time she managed to shrug it off and let it slide through her back. However, at her most vulnerable moments, those words managed to get through and hurt her immensely. She had blamed it to the hormones at first, not wanting to worry her housemates, and they might buy it the first time, but not the second and the time after that.

It was too much for her. It was one thing to have the ability of foresight, to see visions of the future everywhere she went. She had years to get used to it and she had her family who understood what she went through to support her at first. But it was impossible to get used to such drastic change with such great consequences, it didn't matter whether she was of all people should be able to handle it better after everything she had experienced. It didn't matter whether she had prepared herself the best she could. She couldn't help the feeling of insecurity seeping into her skin, creeping into her heart, burying its cold, sharp claws around her heart, squeezing it so tightly that she felt herself suffocating.

She felt too young, too inexperienced, too unprepared, too lacking in everything. She feared for the worst of everything. However, she never voiced any of this to her housemates; she would just keep the smile on her face and pretended that everything was alright, that _she_ was alright. Only in the darkness of the night, alone in her bed, only then she allowed herself a reprieve, she would release all the pent up emotions, letting the tears run freely down her face and retreating into herself until there was nothing left but sleep to overtake her.

She knew that she couldn't keep this up forever; she couldn't keep them in a distance anymore, not after everything they had done for her. Both Sonia and Tanya had moved in with her, leaving their cherished apartment in order to support her completely. They never even asked any questions about the incident that nearly killed her or about the father of the twins and his involvement, though she knew very well that they had many questions, but they held themselves back. Their concern for her overcame their curiosity for the truth. She wasn't prepared to fully bare herself to them the way she did with Zero. They weren't Zero.

And that might be the problem: they weren't _Zero_.

The thought of silver-haired man sent a pang through her heart, stealing her breath for few precious seconds. She tried to ignore the sudden rush of feelings that came over her, tried to think of something else, _anything_ else, to distract her from thinking of him.

Her daughter suddenly let out a loud wail that made her jump in surprise; she quickly scrambled to the crib to calm Mizuki down before she could wake up the whole house. Fortunately, Kazuki didn't protest when his mother pried him off gently and lowered him down to the crib, already dozing off as his hunger was satiated. Misaki swiftly took her daughter in her arms, lightly rocking her and murmuring gentle and soothing words. It didn't take long for her to quiet down and settle comfortably in her mother's arms. Misaki blinked few times and raised her eyebrow, wondering inwardly whether her own children were no less that attuned to their mother's thoughts and feelings.

Seeing innocent blue eyes peering up at her, Misaki couldn't help the smile that came to her lips, those previous dark thoughts occupying her mind had diminished, replaced by a rush of amusement and affection to her children. Playfully she wiggled the small nose, earning the young mother a cheery giggle.

"Really…Who's the mother and who's the child…"

She gently pressed her cheek to her daughter's, feeling the warmth seeping through her skin, the smooth, flawless skin against her own, the comforting weight of her baby in her arms, grounding her to reality. She might not have Zero with her, but she had these two beautiful angels that were part of her as much as part of him with her. Misaki smiled fondly to her daughter, brushing the soft cheek gently with her thumb, shaking her head in a mixture of amusement and exasperation this time. She needed to be more careful in guarding her thoughts and emotions; her children didn't need to be burdened with her problems too. But the smile remained on her face, the dark thoughts already leaving her mind.

A distant chime coming from her room right next the children's made her turn sharply towards the sound, her brow furrowed in wariness when she finally recognized it as the certain sound she specifically set whenever new information come through the network. The Arudas had quickly learned the importance of information early on, especially to fully utilize their ability, thus their first action was to establish an information network that was mainly consisted of Aruda family members and associates and eventually expanded, encompassing families, governments, nations that enabled them to gather information efficiently and effectively without giving away that those people were all actually connected through the Aruda.

For that reason, the network still remained, despite of the fate that befell the Arudas as they had become an inherent, independent network. Some of the smarter ones might realize the presence of the network and made use of it, but they would never be able to use it or have access to it like the Arudas. Only the Arudas had the authority to regulate the information within the network, to grant permission and to request for information with the highest priority. Only her.

Her eyes flew to check the time displayed on the digital clock placed on top of the drawers and her lips pursed when she realized that anything that came in such ungodly hours was rarely good news. She had the feeling that it was related to the request for information she had sent out.

Settling Mizuki more comfortably against her, she carried her daughter along as she swiftly moved to cross the threshold of the room to another. Reaching the phone she placed next to her bed, on the nightstand, she flipped the phone open with practiced ease, her eyes automatically flicked upon the words on the screen. The moment the information she just received sunk in, she stilled.

I

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"What the hell!"

Yagari slammed his hands roughly, making his desk shake from the brutal force. His good eye held such fierce glare that made the unfortunate soul whose only fault was to bring the news to him trembling in fear. Not noticing this, the dark-haired hunter ploughed on mercilessly,

"Is this true? How reliable the source is?"

"We've confirmed it with the head of the Association branch in Hungary. He couldn't say much yet, but he promised to keep us informed," somehow the messenger managed to deliver this clearly, despite the obvious discomfort to bear the brunt of Yagari's foul mood.

There was a moment of silence, as though Yagari was digesting the whole situation and its implications and another moment until he finally told the poor hunter to get out from his office, which his underling gladly obeyed, scurrying towards the exit and leaving the dark-haired hunter alone in his office within seconds.

Yagari plopped down soundly on his dark-leathered recliner, partly gloved hand running through his dark locks in a familiar gesture of exasperation.

_Assassination attempt on the __Szűrös family__. Reportedly Antal __Szűrös__ was in critical condition._

The Szűrös family had become a prominent figure in Hungarian politics and governments since the days of the Republic. There was few people in the Eastern Europe who didn't know of the family and their achievements. They were both worshipped and scorned by the people of Hungary for their radical view which was both ingenious and dangerous. They had been playing with the line of fire for years, no, _decades_ and it shouldn't come as a surprise that they finally reaped what they sowed.

Such matters were of no concern to the Hunter Association. The Association had no right to intervene with any matters of any states or nations unless it had something to do with the other beings they were responsible of, and as such, the assassination attempt on a prominent figure of a nation shouldn't worth their time, _if only_ the Szűrös were ordinary family.

What many people weren't aware of, even to those who were knowledgeable of the vampires and their history, vampires could turn into humans. Only the purebloods and some of the higher nobility were able to attempt such thing, though not without risking their own life in the process. The most blatant example was the heiress of Kuran family who had spent years as a human through the mother's sacrifice before once again awakened as a vampire.

It was not a common practice, but was not a completely rare practice, either. Each to their own reasons, whether it was simply they needed a part of their family who could live among the humans without garnering any suspicion or whether it was simply that they didn't want to remain vampires.

In the beginning, there was little known of the existence of the former vampires who were living inconspicuously among humans as their families managed to keep it tightly under wraps to keep them safe, but some families took it further to protect their human family and that was how the Association came to notice them. They had staunchly refused to acknowledge their relationship with those humans they so benevolently protected, but eventually they relented and some of them even gave away their names in exchange for the Association's protection from other vampires that might want to go after their altered family members.

Antal Szűrös was among them.

And the problem was, the pureblood family related to the Szűrös was the Esterházy.

Yup, _the_ Esterházy. _The_ most influential man in Eastern Europe.

_Oh, great_, he thought sarcastically. He never enjoyed dealing with the purebloods, especially this one who was among the eldest of the pureblood families, whose lineage went far further than most families through the centuries.

Yagari imagined how much a mess it would be if the one behind the assassination attempt was vampires. The bloody bastard of nobility could make things much more difficult to the Association just by lifting a finger. All he could do for now was to order a thorough investigation into the matter by sending some of his men from the main headquarters to Hungary and contact their currently away President of this situation.

He glanced at his watch, counting the time difference and checking of the supposed schedule of their leader. Satisfied that there was nothing too important in the schedule (only some meeting with local leaders), Yagari reached out for the telephone on his desk and made the call, his fingers absently drumming the mahogany surface as he waited for the call to get through.

"Yagari." Low voice immediately greeted him, enunciating every syllable of his name.

It was interesting how the man could convey so many things into a single word, Yagari never ceased to be impressed with his former student's monosyllabic tendencies to avoid idle chatter. Yagari could tell that he was calling at a wrong time and he was demanded to immediately give Zero a good reason for the call.

"Assassination attempt on the Szűrös family. Antal Szűrös is critical."

There was a brief silence at the other line.

"No other information about the attempt?" It was a question that Yagari had foreseen.

"No, not yet. I'm about to send our men there to join the investigation."

"How is the situation in the nation?"

"News are still coming in, but I'm willing to bet there would be quite uproar, especially if the Szűrös didn't make it."

This time there was a longer silence that made the hair on the back of his neck stood on its end. This silence weren't the usual thoughtful silence whenever Zero was considering the possible measures, it was something else.

"I'll go to Turkey for more information. Depending on the situation, I might take part in the investigation myself. I'll keep you informed."

And just like that, the call ended, leaving the second-in-command rather flabbergasted. Yagari couldn't help but repeating the conversation all over again in his mind, wondering whether he missed something. It was like any normal conversation with Zero, and yet… it felt like anything but. There was something in the way he was talking about of the Szűrös… there wasn't the usual detachment, instead, there was such coldness as though he cared little for whatever might happen to the Szűrös.

What had Szűrös done to receive such reaction?

Yagari frowned at this chilling realization, putting down the receiver blankly. Sure, Zero had come to learn the meaning of restraint better and there was no more frantic, emotional outbursts, however, that could also mean that either he learned to conceal or repress it better that could lead to him directing that outburst through other means.

Could it be related with his sudden disappearance months ago?

It had been months since that day the younger man suddenly left abruptly without telling anyone where he went to. After he returned, there was something different with Zero, something changed within Zero, but he wasn't quite sure whether it was for better or worse. He sincerely hoped it was for the better, because he didn't want to think that what happened in Hungary was in any way related to Zero.

I

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His face remained stoic and unchanged as the news reached him, not giving away the turmoil that was struggling to break free with few simple words.

"…He's dead," he spoke the words slowly, carefully, as if the words were foreign to him, "My Antal is dead…" His voice faltered as he spoke of his precious offspring's name.

"Milord, I have no excuse for my failure! I would readily accept my punishment," a man stood before the leader of the Esterházy that was seated in his office, receiving the ill news of his flesh and blood. The man was a tall and broad-shouldered vampire; he would have been a handsome sight if not for the unruly hair and the stained and torn clothes. The man appeared as if he was just returned from a battlefield, which was not far from the truth, as he was the man who was in charge of the safety of the family of Esterházy's youngest son, the Szűrös.

It took all of his willpower not to lash out to the man who was supposed to guard his descendants with his life, but he couldn't fault Pétér for the death of Antal, because he had known this man since he was merely a child and served the family. His loyalty was unquestionable, he would no lesser die than fail to protect his master.

"It was him who dismissed you," Esterházy didn't let his emotions cloud his judgment, "And it was him who made you to obey."

"Regardless, I should've-" Pétér couldn't find any excuse for his failure. He was bound to obey his master, and when Antal used his authority over the vampire as the pureblood descendant, he couldn't disobey his master's request to be left alone without any guard.

"I knew Antal, Pétér. And I knew he would have his way, regardless what you did," Esterházy smiled sadly at this, fully aware how much alike Antal was with his youngest son. He leaned forward, meeting the man's eyes for the first time since he delivered the dreadful news. Pétér unconsciously straightened up under those sharp eyes.

"Right now, your main concern is the safety of Sofia and the children. The moment the news of Antal's death spread, there's no guarantee for their safety. It would be your last duty to Antal. Do not fail him." _Again_.

Pétér could hear the unspoken words, the unspoken accusation, but he didn't let it show on his demeanor and calmly responded with steely determination, "I won't, milord."

"You're dismissed."

Esterházy was inwardly relieved when he saw the last of the younger vampire, he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to restrain himself with Antal's guardian in his sight.

"Anton," he called out to his right hand man who had been standing by his side throughout the exchange, who had remained a silent shadow to him, watching everything with cool detachment. "Is there any obvious connection between this and the other incidents?"

For these past months, there were a series of unfortunate events that befell the Esterházy. At first it appeared to be random, unrelated events. A little failure with the corps, a slight problem with the merchants, a small riot here and there in their area, but nothing they couldn't foresee and handle. Then suddenly, there were problems everywhere, both humans and vampires were causing problems with his family.

"I cannot say anything of yet, milord. The investigation is still ongoing. All I can say that they are starting to make their move against the current government."

Esterházy was aware that there were those who weren't satisfied with his rule, who didn't like the influence his family had over the government, but he had been able to keep them quiet with every possible mean. It might be rather harsh, but it got the job done. He only had the people's best interest at heart. Under his rule, both the people and the nation enjoyed immense opportunity and growth that weren't possible before he came to lead them.

And this was what they gave him in return.

They took Antal away from him!

He must admit that he didn't quite make a secret of his relation with his youngest family. He was proud of the Szűrös and he wanted them to know that they weren't forgotten even if they were no longer of the same world. He gave them everything they needed and more. It was almost common knowledge of the Szűrös and the Esterházy, though most didn't know that they were more than just merely benefactor and beneficiary, that their relationship ran deeper than that.

Yet…

He couldn't help but think there was more. The timing was too convenient.

Then suddenly the pureblood tensed up, but Anton didn't notice this, as he was receiving news from his phone, completely oblivious to the change in his master. Only when he glanced back at Esterházy after he was done, he noticed something was off.

"Milord?"

"Could you leave me alone for a while, Anton?"

Anton was about to refuse, but having been serving his master for his lifetime, he realized that despite the polite tone and words, it was not a request.

"Very well, milord. I would right be right outside when you need me."

Anton gave a respectful bow towards his master before removing himself from Esterházy's presence to fulfill his request. Watching this, Esterházy couldn't help the smile gracing his features seeing such devotion towards him, but that smile didn't last long.

"Finally… we've got to meet, president Kiryuu."

Slowly, a figure took form behind him, stepping out from the shadows as quietly as he was merely part of the shadows itself. Even with his acute senses, Esterházy barely sensed the man's presence and it was only by the other man's generosity that he could sense him approaching. It was only thing that kept him calm, knowing that the man didn't come to fight him.

"Prince Esterházy," Zero returned the greetings curtly, stopping few steps before the sitting man. Esterházy finally turned his seat towards his guest, facing the looming figure before him. There was a stretching silence between them, both of them studying and judging one another.

Esterházy couldn't help the thought that the younger man was fitted more into the role of the creature of the night than most trueborn vampires. The silver-colored hair and eyes that became the mark of the descendant of Kiryuu family gleamed under the dim lighting and were contrasted greatly the darkness that fell over him like a cloak. His presence felt surreal, as though the man was merely a part of his imagination, but the weight of the threat posed could hardly be ignored.

He was perfect. He was a perfect creation made of the greatest hunter and purest vampires. He must hand it to that Kuran Kaname, for creating such existence as Kiryuu Zero. He made the greatest pawn, indeed, until he was no longer a pawn.

Esterházy knew that the pureblood who single-handedly turned the vampire society upside down after a long of tedious and meticulous years of planning would likely make a plan to ensure that the man remained as his pawn. He had his suspicions that it was related to the only Kuran princess that happened to live several years with the newly changed Kiryuu. However, the younger pureblood's control were slowly slipping… and it was merely a matter of time before Kiryuu gained control of the board himself… as he was starting to do with the great Esterházy.

"Why are you here, if you don't intend to take my life?" Finally he broke the silence between them.

"I never intend to," Kiryuu replied calmly. His surprise must be evident that the man chose to elaborate, "Death holds different meaning for immortal beings with the likes of you."

Esterházy couldn't hold back a bitter chuckle when the implied meaning dawned on him. Death held different meaning indeed for him who had lived several lifetimes compared to human short lifetime. The other man had got him in the mindset that it was his _death_ that he wanted. He was completely outsmarted by the hunter.

"That's why you went after my family," _instead of me_, he thought. He had come to that realization a little too late.

"It was no different with what you've done."

"True," Esterházy was honest enough to admit it. He was the one who started all of these chain reactions by giving the order to hurt the young woman. Kiryuu did nothing but to pull the right trigger in the right time. The unrest had always been there, waiting for the time to come to the surface. The hunter must have known everything that was required to make things turn out the way he wished them to be without giving away anything. And he didn't hesitate; Esterházy didn't have the slightest doubt about that. He had to acknowledge that he had severely underestimated the young president.

The pureblood had once thought that the man wasn't put into the position of the leader of hunters by himself, not by his own desire. He doubted whether the Kiryuu was exactly suited for the position that required more thinking and talking diplomatically than taking direct actions that he had been doing very well as the best hunter the association had. The impression he had when they met officially for the first time merely reinforced his assumptions.

Kiryuu was more a lone wolf who would prefer to be left alone. The first years under his leadership pretty much proved his inability to handle the politics both vampires and humans alike. It was only due to his advisors, Cross and Yagari, and the pureblood pacifist, Kuran's interventions that it didn't affect the relationship between Hunters Association with its stakeholders. He was getting better, but not good enough for him to be compared to his previous predecessors who had accomplished more in those early years of their own leadership. However, inadvertently that fact made Esterházy overlook that one's inability in leadership didn't necessarily equal one's inability in analyzing and strategizing.

"I've lost, Kiryuu. What else do you want of me?" Esterházy spread his hand weakly before him. The hunter had achieved his objective, hurting him through his family. Everything he held dear was paying the price for his arrogance, for his negligence. Kiryuu was right; death meant little to him, compared to his own flesh and blood. He had lost completely from him against his own wishes and expectations.

The silvery depths remained cold and emotionless; Esterházy wasn't able to decipher what was going through the man's mind. He found his stare unnerving, because his family's lives depended on it.

"I think I've made the message clear enough to you. There's no need for anything else. Leave me and those around me alone. If you don't…"

"Yes. You'd have my word," and for the first time Esterházy found the courage to meet Kiryuu's eyes.

"I'd rather not see you again anytime, Esterházy." And with those words, he was gone; along with the intense pressure he brought to the room, leaving the centuries-old vampire sagged tiredly against the chair.

The years he had been living for took that vulnerable moment to show throughout his unchanged face. He felt great anger and hatred towards that man, his hands clenching the armrest so tightly that it broke under the pressure, but he knew that it would be futile. He had given his word, and the younger man wouldn't make the mistake of not expecting he wouldn't break his word. He was merely a pawn on the hunter's board now.

He had picked a wrong opponent, he realized. Right now, Kiryuu was under the protection of Kuran because he was the closest and strongest ally to maintain his foolish ideals. However, he wondered how the pureblood would react when he found out that his control was slipping away. If the young pureblood showed any sign that he would try to replace his former pawn, he would gladly use it to his advantage. But right now, he had to stay low, before his family could suffer more.

I

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In a dark room, a figure could be seen standing against the door, slightly crouching as his face was hidden behind his hand and his other hand was clawing against the wooden door. Ragged breathing was loud amidst the dead silence that came from the solitary figure still crouched against the door as though trying to control himself, his nails leaving dents upon the solid wood.

Zero gritted his teeth, trying to put his tumultuous emotions under control. The moment he left the disgusting pureblood, the calm façade he wore was no more. He was trying hard not to kill that man, which would be so easy when he was so weakened with grief and regret over the loss of his precious descendant, but his conscience didn't allow him to. For once, he wished he could throw away his conscience, consequences be damned! That man didn't deserve to live!

All of a sudden, as though being commanded, all the glass around the room was shattered into pieces. Cold wind breezed into the room noisily through the broken windows, water spilling over the fallen flowers and table to the floor where shards of glass were slowly decorating it.

The sounds of glass breaking and falling against the floor managed to pull him away from his murderous haze, bringing him back to another time where this had happened before. He was so consumed by his rage and hatred that he broke everything in the vicinity by sheer power of his emotions alone. He wasn't aware of anything in his surroundings, but somehow, one voice managed to reach him.

"_Stop, Zero!" _

_Grey silver eyes came across wide blue eyes._

And stop he did.

Those previously dark eyes slowly turned back to their normal color, the irregular breathing slowly evened out and the taut lines on his body was slowly easing. His hands fell limply on his sides and his head was thrown back as he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. After few moments, he slid down to the floor, back scratching against the door, one long leg stretched out before him, another partly bent at knee, eyes still closed.

He could still recall those eyes that despite everything held neither fear nor confusion and despite the chaos he caused remained fixed upon him, kept reaching out to him and before he realized it, he reached back to her and stopped.

A chuckle escaped him, the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously.

It seemed… even after everything, she remained the one who could get through him the most. His hand strayed upon his breast pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a worn envelope. His eyes easily rested upon the neat Latin handwriting on the front of the envelope, drinking the elegant and precise stroke on every word.

Kiryuu Zero.

With careful and gentle fingers he removed the content of the paper, slowly unfolding the letter.

_Zero,_

_I am well now. Thanks to Doctor Baudin' relentless efforts. And yours. I've heard everything from him. I'm glad of all doctors who could treat me, it was him. I'm also glad that you didn't shoot him the moment you came across him in the hospital._

Even after reading it many times, Zero could never failed to be amused at that certain sentence as his mind easily imagined her wry tone as she pointed it out matter-of-factly. Despite how impersonal it was, it seemed no different than her talking to him directly.

_It's not your fault. Don't lay all the blame on your shoulders. They already have enough burdens as it is. You were here. And you didn't give up on me. That's more than I can ask of you. _

A sad smile graced his features at these words, fingertips floating over the certain sentence. She was always the one who did the comforting, even when she was the one who needed it more. It was so like her and the familiarity was a comfort by itself.

_I'm sorry I kept it from you. I wasn't sure whether to tell you of the twins or not. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I must have made you very worried. _

_I understand why you left and I don't intend to make you second guess yourself. I sent this letter to let you know that the twins were born safely on 21st February. They are a boy and a girl. They are strong and healthy. They resemble their father very much. They are perfect. I named them Kazuki and Mizuki. I hope you like their names._

_Don't worry about us. Knowing you, you must have placed enough protection around us. Even Doctor Baudin took upon him to look after us, letting us to stay in his house in Paris. Sonia and Tanya also came along. _

_Do whatever you have to do. Have faith in yourself. Because I have faith in you._

_Misaki._

With aching heart he reached for the envelope to get the remaining content inside. He slipped it out and saw the picture of her holding two bundles in each of her hand. She seemed slightly tired; traces of sweat glistening on her skin, her fair hair tied back, some of them framing loosely her smiling face, and her clear blue eyes shone with such love and joy to the newborns held in her arms. The twins were sleeping contentedly in their mother's embrace. Although it was too early to tell, he could see the resemblance to him already.

He ran gentle fingers on the smooth surface of the portrait, tracing the outline of their faces as if trying to feel them under his fingertips. _His children_. Their _children_.

He could never quash the longing that appeared whenever he laid his eyes on the picture, the feeling that he would give anything in the world just to be there by her side, watching and holding the twins in his arms. However, he knew the impossibility of that simple wish, as painful as it was to admit. The words in her letter were engraved in his mind.

_I have faith in you._

He closed his eyes, a frown marred his features.

No you shouldn't. You shouldn't have faith in me.

In me who had wronged you, in me who had left you and our children… in me who selfishly made use of others for mere revenge.

He left them because he wanted to be a man worthy of them. And he wanted to be able to answer the faith given to him. But now, with what he had done...

He stared blankly at the palm of hands before him, imagining them stained with blood of those whose deaths indirectly caused by him. He couldn't meet them, not anymore, not with these stained hands.

That was why he kept the envelope in his breast pocket, close to where his heart was and there where it would remain. Because it would be the closest he would get to them, to her and their children.

It was all he could allow himself to.

* * *

Your review makes my day :)


	7. Chapter 6

Sorry for the late update! I tried to make sure this chapter well-edited so I had to chase my beta to the ends of the Earth to make this chapter readable enough. So here it is. Thanks to my lovely yet lazy beta, Shapby (snickers) and my faithful supporter, Primal Red.

~Audriel

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**Chapter 6**

"Yuuki… She's gorgeous…"

The high-pitched squeal came as no surprise from the eccentric headmaster, who also happened to be the adoptive father of Kuran Yuuki, and now, the proud grandfather of Kuran Kaede. Cross was currently cradling the newborn in his arms while gushing of the cuteness of the additional member of Kuran family with Yuuki who was currently sitting on the sofa with him. Kaname was hovering over the two on the back of the sofa with a gentle, affectionate look towards his beloved girls.

"Isn't she?" Yuuki agreed vehemently with Cross, wine-colored eyes drinking over all of her daughter's features the same way she first laid her eyes upon her daughter, as though as she hadn't memorized it already.

"Don't you think so, Kaname?" The dark-haired beauty beamed towards her husband whom she had this… this wonderful blessing with.

"She inherits her mother's beauty." Kaname took his wife's hand to gently kiss it. He couldn't truly express how grateful he was for everything she had given him. He was already more than happy to have Yuuki by his side for the rest of the eternity. To have her love and her devotion was something he could never truly fathom. And now… she had given him more happiness, a child conceived from their love… their child. He never thought he would ever truly feel such joy after such a long and lonely existence all those centuries ago.

Meanwhile, their close friends and family respectfully kept their distance to give a semblance of privacy for the family, in order not to spoil the moment. It was the first day for Yuuki's return from the hospital where she gave birth to the firstborn of Kuran.

Usually the women of the Kuran family chose to give birth in the safety of their home, especially when the labor was such painful and grueling ordeal. However, Kaname decided it would be much safer to give birth in the hospital, especially when he had a trusted vampire physician in his chosen hospital which wasn't far from Kuran mansion. Though his main consideration was Yuuki who refused to be cooped up in the mansion throughout her pregnancy and still refused to take it easy as the time for the birth was coming closer.

Yuuki's water broke when she was on her way back to the mansion after a visit to Cross Academy. Fortunately Ruka was with her, as per Kaname's orders to keep his wife from traveling alone in her condition, and quickly brought the heavily pregnant Yuuki to the hospital while taking care of the doctor and the hospital _and_ informing the soon-to-be-father _and_ instructing the soon-to-be-mother to stay calm. Basically, the new father and mother owed a lot to the Souen, because if it was any other person, or if there was any, Ruka was certainly the best they could have. God knew what would happen if it was Kain or Aidou.

Zero felt the corners of his mouth quirk slightly at the thought as he watched Yuuki and Cross talking over what appeared every single part of the child, from head to toe. He was invited along to welcome Yuuki and Kaede's return from the hospital as part of the family and currently leaning to the fireplace which gave him vantage point towards the whole scene and people in the living room. He could see all the familiar faces he recognized from the days of the Academy, all the people deemed close or trustworthy enough to share this intimate occasion with.

He inwardly wondered which one of the two he was as he discretely watched the others from his place. Ichijou and Aidou, unsurprisingly stood the closest to the Kuran couple, each on Kaname's side, indirectly showing what they were to the Kuran. His left and right hand. While Kain and Ruka stood at the opposite side together, their fingers intertwined. They would have their turn eventually with their upcoming wedding.

Watching Yuuki and Kaede, Zero started seeing an image of another mother and children. He couldn't help but wonder whether she had the same look when she held the children in her arms, with that warm and gentle smile towards the children she had given life to. He wondered whether she had someone to share the happiness with. She would have her friends, that was certain. But would it be the same?

Zero couldn't help to question this as he watched Yuuki with the father of her child. Suddenly, Yuuki turned her head towards his direction, her face bright as though she was struck with a brilliant idea. His instinctive reaction was to raise his eyebrow, just like those days long gone when this same woman, no, girl, would not hesitate to think twice before causing any mischief with the same look in her eyes. His knowledge of her was soon proven correct.

"Why don't you hold her, Zero?" Yuuki suggested innocently to Zero.

The reaction to the suggestion was instantaneous and mostly identical in expression, surprise and disbelief for the new mother to even dare to suggest such thing. Only Cross who didn't share the odd looks with the others and it was him who cheerfully –almost too cheerfully, Zero noted dully- moved closer to him and was about to hand the newborn to him without even asking the father's permission. Zero merely gave the other man a bored look, while he didn't miss the contrasting look on the couple, Yuuki who was glowing with happiness and excitement that was greatly a reminiscent of the old Yuuki he knew and Kaname who raised his eyebrow slightly, daring him to refuse the suggestion.

Inwardly he was amused with the pureblood's streak of protectiveness that overcame his willingness to please his wife and the other man seemed to forget that there were few people who could deny this Yuuki that he hadn't seen for a long time. Thus in order to please Yuuki and infuriate her husband, Zero nodded his consent to Cross who immediately told him how to take the fragile baby in his arms and slowly placed Kaede in the makeshift cradle that was his arms.

The baby was surprisingly light and warm in his arm. He could understand the care others put as they took her in their arms. The baby wriggled rather violently at first, being moved from one place to another and he thought that Yuuki's child would keep wriggling after being placed in his inexperienced arms or let out a wail like she did in Aidou's arms, but what happened was completely the contrary. The baby stopped wriggling and opened her unseeing eyes towards him with such innocence and curiosity that reminded him of other newborns he only saw in a single portrait that he kept in his breast pocket, where could feel the familiar painful ache. He barely heard the loud exclamations from Cross and Yuuki that pointed out how little Kaede liked him. Even he barely felt the sharp gaze directed at him from a certain Kuran father.

Kaede gurgled what it seemed to be happy, excited sounds and reached out her small, chubby hands. Absently he moved his finger so it was close enough to the child's reach and was slightly taken aback by the strong hold on his finger, making him inwardly wonder whether his children were also this strong when they were newly born. He let the vampire newborn to take some of his life force, which was barely affected by the action.

Outwardly, Zero didn't reveal anything that was possibly running in his mind, simply handling the newborn with a care that was rarely seen from the silver-haired man with a rather distant look in his eyes. Yuuki who noticed this was silenced, wondering what might go through his mind. She wanted to see him drop his guard, even for the slightest bit, and she thought that Kaede would be able to do it, seeing how much her daughter liked him and he seemed to return the feelings. However, she was disappointed to see that he still kept his guard around her.

They were no longer enemies like he once declared that they were, and they still kept in touch, she would share her stories with him, being the one who knew her best still, but their relationship was no longer the same. Zero still retained this aura that kept others away, but she always managed to ignore it and even got through him few times. In those times, she managed to make his drop his façade and saw the real Zero. He still humored her, scoffed at her, patted her in the head, but it was never the same.

Somehow, Zero was closer than those days she spent separated from him but at the same time was as far and unreachable as those days. Kaname didn't fail to notice the sudden change in his wife's demeanor and wasn't surprised to see that the source of her sadness was Kiryuu.

Zero returned Kaede to her self-anointed grandfather who didn't seem satisfied holding her for most of the time. Absently he wondered how his adoptive father would react when he found out that Kaede wasn't actually his first grandchild. But at the same time, seeing how much the man fussing over the baby, he reconsidered his thought, maybe it was best that he didn't know. His thoughts were stopped with a familiar vibration coming from his phone. He pulled out the phone from his pocket and when he found that it was coming from the office, he excused himself out the room to receive the call.

"Kiryuu." As he said his name, a woman's voice on the other end of the line immediately went into a short and succinct summary of the latest happenings, enough for him to give out orders until he went there himself to take care of things. He ended the call with a sigh, and returned inside the room. Kaede was already returned to her mother, her father once again resumed his place beside his wife and daughter. Zero walked straight to the couple, although only kept his eyes mainly to Yuuki.

"Are you leaving already?" There was a slight disappointment in her voice that made him feel guilty, but it didn't last long as he remembered the steady presence of Kaname beside her.

"I'm afraid so. Something urgent came up," he gestured his phone that he returned to his pocket.

"Then go, just make sure you come to visit Kaede again," Yuuki smiled to him. Zero merely nodded in confirmation to the invitation.

"Kuran. Cross." he nodded briskly to each of them to excuse himself out of politeness that years ago he would blatantly ignore in the presence of the vampires he despised. Cross couldn't help but notice this with pride to see how the man carried himself with such grace and confidence that he used to lack, but sadness passed fleetingly across his eyes with the knowledge what was lost in exchange. Unfortunately so absorbed he was with his thoughts that Cross failed to notice the inscrutable look on a certain Kuran's face.

I

I

I

"That was taken care of pretty nicely," Yagari commented offhandedly as he sat on the comfortable couch and crossed his legs on the coffee table in the study that acted as the president's office in the Association headquarters. The gesture that could be considered rude of the older man didn't earn him any sharp reprimand from his superior who was also in the same room, reading through the reports on his desk, completely ignoring the other man.

"It's not over yet. We're merely putting it off," instead it was the president's blatant reply as he calmly skimmed through various reports and sorted them out in better order. He raised an eyebrow at some reports, scratched some of them with his pen or even threw it into the trash bin after crumpling it into a ball. It was done with such eased practice and barely any pause between the movements that he didn't seem working seriously, but Yagari knew better.

"Well, at least we ain't gonna see them knocking our door anytime soon. Every time they appear, they always bring up one matter or another."

This time there was no response from the younger man whose attention remained on the files on his desk. He only stopped for a brief moment to drop some tablets into a glass of water on his right that soon turned into red-colored water which he drank for few gulps before once again returning his attention to his work. All of these didn't fail the man's astute observation; despite he had only one eye to see everything.

Yagari had known the current president of the Association since he was a mere child who barely able to hold any hunter's weapon in his small hands. It made him the one who knew the young man the longest. The only one that still lived, that was. He knew the loss of his family by the hands of the pureblood princess, Shizuka had left an everlasting mark on the boy, and especially it was on the very same night he lost his family that he also became the very thing he was supposed to hunt.

Zero had always been a quiet boy who rarely spoke out whatever in his mind or even his heart. But after the incident, he became more withdrawn. He wasn't only quiet but also distant, keeping everyone away. And most notably was the burden he put on his shoulders by himself. The anger, the sadness, the pain, the hatred, the guilt…

He kept those burdens intentionally, letting them drag himself into the darkness of despair and if possible, death. Cross Yuuki had prevented him to go that self-destructing path, but that role inevitably ended after her awakening as the Kuran princess. In a way, he was no different than the walking dead, even after he consciously took it upon himself the role of the leader of the hunters' society and reined his own resentment against the vampires and somewhat maintained a cordial relationship with the previously Cross Yuuki.

Slowly, Yagari started to notice some changes within him. Those eyes held less shadows within them, the darkness surrounding him seemed to be lifted considerably, the smiles more often than not crossing his features. Until all of a sudden, all those bright, hopeful signs were gone without a trace.

The darkness that once nearly dissipated from his aura seemed to return, hanging over him like dark clouds, growing thicker, if possible. The life within his eyes seemed to be snuffed out, leaving a dim, scarce semblance of the light that once resided within, replaced with sharp calculation and cool detachment. The burden on his shoulders remained as though he would never be released of it, as though he had no intention of shedding it. The only positive side that came from it was giving him the edge that he needed to become the leader of the hunters.

The last Kiryuu started to grow into the role he was chosen into, but not the way Yagari and Cross wished him to be. Gone was the brash young man, replaced by cold and calculating adult in his place. Zero had slowly but surely strengthened his position as the president, gaining both fear and respect from humans and vampires alike. No one questioned his authority anymore. However, Yagari couldn't find it in himself to feel proud of his former student's achievements. This was not what he and Cross wanted for him. Zero had little life outside his duties. He spent most of his time either in the headquarters or in other places that required his presence as the president.

Zero had an apartment in quite a distance away from the headquarters, but it was rarely used. He was easier to find in his office or around the headquarters than in his apartment. Sometimes he found his former student asleep on the couch with papers and pen strewn over the coffee table next to the couch. And that was when he actually bothered to check up on the president late into the night. Zero could have been spending the nights in his office for all he knew.

Yagari was aware that this kind of life wasn't uncommon to hunters like them, hunters who could only do the one thing they were best in. Having a family for a hunter was a rarity itself, which was why a hunter married another if they wanted to remain as a hunter and passed their duty to their children, such as the Kiryuu family. Cross could have a family of his own if he wanted after he resigned from his duty as a hunter, but he seemed content having Kuran Yuuki and Kiryuu Zero as his children and looking after other children in his Academy.

Yagari never pictured himself having a family of his own; he was never good with kids. He could only tolerate the Kiryuu twins, especially Zero because he was unlike most children who tended to whine and make a fuss over small matters. Zero had always been much older than his age gave away. It might be because he was the stronger one of the Kiryuu twins that were supposed to be one instead of two. The perfect hunter.

As he spent more time with the older twin of Kiryuu, he couldn't help to notice that boy was… still a boy. He was still prone to foolish mistakes. He still needed love and affection. The Kiryuus cared about their children, but they still saw them through the eyes of hunters. They weren't bad parents, but they could be better. Sometimes he thought that they didn't try hard enough for the twins. Maybe they wouldn't be so messed up. Both Zero and Ichiru.

Sometimes he wished that those two weren't born as Kiryuus. The twins truly cared for one another, but the others around them didn't care about it, only desiring for the stronger, surviving twin, giving little choice for the two. That was why he and Cross were adamant with Zero attending school like other normal children in his age. They knew that the boy would never be normal, him being a Kiryuu already didn't allow him to be, added that he was also a vampire and caught the Kuran's attention.

Kuran, the name tasted bitter on his tongue. Yagari respected the man and everything he had done to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires, but it didn't mean he liked him. That man never failed to keep him on his toes. That man was too dangerous, with his status as a pureblood, his influence over vampires, and his ability to make everything dance under his fingertips. He had taken every freedom Zero had, leaving the young hunter little choice but to walk the path chosen for him. It wasn't like he and Cross was any different, he thought sadly, by placing their hopes in the barely ready young man to become the leader of the hunter society.

Zero was reluctant, it was clear to both of them who knew the younger man well, but he accepted still. It wasn't easy for him, Yagari knew. There were times where more experienced hunters had to intervene in his behalf, but he was trying. He answered their hopes, without asking anything in return.

There was a slight sadness gracing the dark-haired hunter as he watched the young president through his good eye. Better late than never, he thought as he slowly rose from his seat and approached the working man. His dark gloved hand was slammed on the table, stopping the shifting of the papers and getting him Zero's attention. Silver eyes narrowed at him, wordlessly questioning this sudden and irritating action. Yagari smirked seeing that annoyed look on his face, it never failed to amuse him. While another part of him was relieved for such response, for the fact there was _any_.

"I mentioned that those benefactors of ours ain't likely to come again to bother us for some time."

The only reaction he got was a raised eyebrow and a challenging look, but Zero let him elaborate.

"For the last three years you've working non-stop, even going as far as using your free days to work. I think it's about time for you to take your unused leave."

This earned him an incredulous look. "And what would I do with that leave?"

"I don't know," the one-eyed hunter shrugged nonchalantly, "Maybe going to where you once disappeared to for weeks?"

The reaction he got was instantaneous and completely unexpected that it caught him off guard. Various emotions flickered on his features but immediately those emotions were gone in an instant as if a curtain has just thrown over. Yagari inwardly cursed, the younger man was starting to rarely wear those cold and detached façade around him, but now he had made him put up the barrier again around him. He had never tried to broach that subject since that day, and it seemed he should never have. Before the man could say anything else, Yagari quickly reacted,

"Just go," he spread his hands before the other man. "Your well being is also my responsibility. Having you cooped up here all day, all week isn't good for you. Just… Please, Zero." Yagari softened his tone and for once, addressed him by name instead by title, which he rarely used to the younger man.

When Zero looked into the other man's eyes, seeing the real concern underneath those eyes, he lowered his guard slightly that he unconsciously put up at the unintentional reminder of those difficult weeks. The older hunter meant well, his reaction only made him more worried.

"Sorry," he muttered quietly as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, running a hand through his hair habitually, "I'll take my leave if it relieves you. Just let me finish this."

The eyes that met his eyes were the eyes of the president of Hunter Association. There was no trace of those previous emotions once clouded his features, only clear and calm silver eyes. His tone brooked no argument, even and demanding. Yagari hesitantly stepped back from the oak table, straightening up as if he received one of his orders.

"You're dismissed." Zero avoided meeting his advisor's gaze after he told him to leave curtly. He could sense from his stance that Yagari felt guilty for bringing it up, but the older man didn't say anything else and obediently excused himself from his presence.

When the door was closed behind him, Zero slumped on his seat, feeling guilty and ashamed for the slip. Those days weren't the days he wanted to recall, as were the days that followed. Killing the vampires was a justifiable action, considering that they were responsible for hurting innocents, and who knew how many other innocents they had killed as they worked for Esterházy, and Belmont in particular was actually in the list.

However it was everything he did to get to Esterházy using his family that weighed in on his conscience. True, he didn't actually have the intention to kill them, he simply wanted to hurt the pureblood through them, and he didn't actually do anything, merely giving a catalyst to what was going to happen sooner or later with or without his interference. He had known the restlessness under the Eastern royalty's rule in the short time he spent in the nation. It was a matter of time, he simply quickened the process.

But in the process, many innocents lost their lives and he couldn't help the guilt that he was somewhat responsible for it. The man had hurt Misaki and their unborn children without any compassion, his mind tried to justify his actions. It might be Belmont's fault at most, being the one who actually went after her. However, for a man with Esterházy's caliber couldn't—mustn't fail to see what his servant might do in order to fulfill his orders.

His justifications felt hollow even to himself, he felt that he was no better than the other man he had become to despise more than Kuran -who at least didn't try to do such drastic and cowardly measures. He shook his head in bitter amusement at his line of thought that placed _the_ Kuran actually in high opinion for once. What would that make him?

He had known that he didn't have the right to see them, as much as he wanted to. He remembered that night after he confronted the Esterházy. He recognized the deep longing that surfaced when Yagari indirectly suggested him to go to where they were. He wanted to see them, to see them safe and sound by his own eyes.

His hand instinctively went to his breast pocket, pulling out the envelope he kept safely there. Gently he held the envelope with his name written on it. At first he only stared at the elegant handwriting of his name before he finally pulled out the photograph within. Even after three years, the image of her and her children never failed to bring warmth to him.

Maybe… maybe it was alright for him to see them without meeting them…

His hand absently traced the figures in the glossy paper, sadness graced his features. Just for this once, he thought. Just for this once…

I

I

I

When Baudin offered his patient to stay with him after she was discharged from the hospital -–which wasn't long after she regained consciousness, the blood healed her quickly and perfectly- his reasons were not completely selfless. Since his being the servant of Charlemagne, he had been living on his own in Paris. His house, if it could be called one, was in actuality more a mansion located near _Champs-Élysées_, although it was comparably small and modest between other mansions in the area, it was a mansion nonetheless.

It had been a gift from his pureblood master, and of course, he had been unable to refuse such gift, fearing that as kind as Charlemagne was, he would not take refusal well. It turned out to be a wise decision. He later learned that the gift was also a sign of the European monarch's protection, making him virtually untouched by any vampires. This piece of knowledge wasn't left forgotten as he made the offer to his patient.

The young woman's eyes were practically wide in disbelief when he told her where he lived. But the surprise didn't linger, instead the _mademoiselle_ asked him whether it was truly alright for her to stay with him, whether she would be a bother. She asked this with a kind smile, seemingly understanding the real reason behind his offer aside from his concern over her safety, making him unconsciously tell her the truth. That he actually lived alone, only with a caretaker and a driver that came early in the mornings and went home in the evenings and that he had plenty of rooms in the house. She merely smiled in understanding as he told her and asked whether it would be alright for her to extend the offer to her friends.

He had interacted quite often with the young woman, but it was that certain conversation that made him start to see what kind of person Misaki Hisakawa was. Eventually, the three young women moved into his house, the other two had arranged the moving of their belongings from their apartment before their friend was officially discharged and arrived at his house with everything already in order.

The two took the two empty rooms in the second floor as theirs, while she had one of the rooms in first floor, mindful of her condition that would be impractical for her to climb up and down the stairs. Although that was how they divided their living spaces, there were times when one of them would occupy the other room close to their friend's in case she would need anything.

Baudin could understand the treatment of the girls whom he was finally introduced to as Sonia and Tanya. They nearly lost their friend and it would take a while for them to convince themselves that she was no longer in any harm. Misaki took everything in stride, to his admiration.

She handled all the attention well, taking them with calm and patience although there were times when it went a little too much and almost ridiculous. She also handled her pregnancy the same way, taking care of the needs of her and the children in her womb without letting it hinder her life even as she grew larger. She continued her studies, managing her time between classes and assignments. And throughout it all, she managed to make the living arrangements more comfortable to everyone.

It was her who first reached out to him and tried to get to know him better, an example that was followed by her friends. And slowly the ice was broken. Baudin and the girls were already in first-name basis after few months of awkward conversations, and by now there were times when they called him by his title as an endearment.

When he looked back, Baudin felt glad that he made that offer. The house felt livelier than before when he lived on his own, especially after the new arrivals. It had fascinated him at first when he saw how different the girls were in personality. The mixed-descent Sonia with dark green eyes and dark hair that easily attracted many attention towards her unusual beauty who was quiet and graceful, the typical Parisian flower Tanya with contrasting red hair against pale skin who was brimming with energy and the eastern beauty Misaki with clear blue eyes and golden hair who was calm and composed. With such different personalities, he had wondered how they could be so close, but slowly he began to understand that it was Misaki who brought them together and became the bridge between the two different personalities.

The young women became dear to him and he treated them no different than his own daughter that he lost in an accident that also took his wife. However, it was Misaki who was dearest to him, maybe because he spent more time with her than the others who returned home during their university breaks or because she knew of his true identity yet held no contempt or suspicion against him. But then again, she was the mother of the children of the Kiryuu who was both the hunter and the very thing he hunted.

His first assumption was that the girl must be somewhat naïve and trusting by nature to be able to accept the existence of vampires easily. Thus he was surprised to find she was anything but, she was sharp and observant, with such maturity and wisdom he didn't expect to see in the eyes for someone so young. She carried herself with a quiet grace that was less apparent compared to the attractiveness of her dark-haired friend, yet no less appealing and if he were to be honest, more pleasant. He welcomed her company whenever he wanted one, enjoying the playful banters and intelligent conversations they had. Baudin could see why the young woman was so dear to the young hunter that he dared to go such lengths to assure her safety.

Then there were the twins. The twins were almost a mirror image of their father that for a person like him who barely knew of him couldn't help but noticed this when he laid eyes on them when they were still newly born. The labor was a swift and rather painless one, erasing his worries that the previous incident with the mother would affect her condition. The boy was born first, followed by the girl in few minutes after. Fraternal twins usually had less identical appearance with one another, but the Kiryuu twins bore great resemblance to one another that they were no different than identical twins if it weren't for the fact that they were of different genders.

They were a handful, those twins; especially those two seemed to have the infamous twins' mental bond, but they were relatively well-behaved and almost _too_ well-behaved when they were around strangers, merely looking at them with bright, inquisitive eyes of their mother without saying anything. It was rather unnerving to get that kind of gaze from such small children whose height barely reached their knees. In those times, those who knew their father couldn't be helped but reminded of the cunning resemblance.

Kazuki and Mizuki, it was their names, rhymed with their mother's name and contained their father's name. He had given them a special attention to their health and behavior since they were in their mother's womb. Initially he feared that the children would start to manifest their vampire behavior as the pregnancy slowly coming into term and start feeding off their mother's life force, but it appeared that his worries were unfounded. The children grew as normally as human children could, even after they were born safely into the world. He made sure of it while he had the twins under the same roof.

What confused him that they certainly had vampire blood that they inherited from their father, if their robust health was any indication. He wasn't a pediatrician to have enough comparison of the two with other normal children, but the children never once caught any kind of illness, even the slightest fevers or coughs and any kind of injuries, either bruises or scratches. They were certainly blessed with the vampires' regenerative ability.

After he was sure that the children would grow like most normal children without the sudden thirst of blood or life force, reaching the conclusion that the twins might be the first case of successful hybrid of human and vampire, he immediately dropped the case, thinking how dangerous it was if anyone were to find out of the anomaly. He knew that many vampires found their constant need of blood as a hindrance, as the only flaw in their perfection, and if they found out that this flaw actually could be removed genetically… Not only vampires, even humans would try to get their hands on the children to find the secret behind this genetic anomaly. He shuddered at the thought, not wanting anything to happen to those younglings.

Until few months earlier, his scientific curiosity once again piqued by the thought that there might be something else that caused the anomaly when he realized that there were some considerations he overlooked. He went through all the files he gathered throughout the years taking care of the health of the mother and her two children, and after careful and thorough examination, he came into stunning revelation. He had debated with himself for days after the discovery whether to keep it to himself or inform the concerned person.

Baudin was walking absently through the hallways of his house as he mentally argued with himself the advantages and disadvantages of sharing this certain information. The house was quiet, most of the residents were still occupied with their activities outside, Sonia and Tanya were out working, the children were currently having their afternoon nap in their shared room on the first floor, and their mother was currently working on her project in a room upstairs that was turned into her working place in order to prevent the children come into contact with her architecture-related things.

He slowly climbed up the stairs, mindful of his steps so that he wouldn't disturb the sleeping children or the working mother. The drawing room, that was how Misaki named the room, was on the western part of the house where it was comprised largely of a library, a room for his collections and a small storage room for unused furniture. When he saw her working on her architecture assignments in her bedroom, seeing how her equipments took most of the space, he decided to turn the storage room for her working space, especially when she would have her children running around that prone to disturb or even destroy her hard work. She wasn't able to refuse when he pointed it out to her, knowing that the young woman was pretty perfectionist when it came to her works.

Baudin stopped before the entrance, leaning slightly towards the doorframe as he watched the fair-haired woman bent on the drawing table. The room was cleaned out of the furniture that used to be kept inside and the walls were repainted in white. The windows were cleaned and opened to let the sunlight and breeze inside the room. The room was bathed in warm glow of sunlight, illuminating the room without the need of artificial lightings and filled with cool breeze, refreshing the air within the room without the need of thermostat. She had arranged the architectural books, papers, models and tools in such way that they were within her reach but provided enough space for her to move freely about, thus despite the numbers of architectural things within the room, the room still felt wide and comfortable. She was indeed an architect, he thought with a smile.

"Francis?" His musings were interrupted by feminine voice; it appeared that Misaki noticed his presence. The focus of his musings tilted her head innocently; the strands of hair that managed to escape her braid bounced lightly as she looked at him questioningly.

"Am I interrupting?" Baudin stepped forward.

"Nope, I think I'll take a break for now. Are the children awake?" Misaki stretched out her limbs as she said this.

"They're still sleeping soundly," Baudin answered, hiding his anxiety behind his smile.

"Let's have some tea in the library then." Being as perceptive as always, Misaki was the one who gave the suggestion.

"That sounds good," he nodded in agreement. "After you."

Misaki laughed lightly at the gentlemanly gesture and led the way to the library. Due to the time she and her friends spent upstairs, the library also had some new arrangements, such as the assortments of snacks and beverages on a short cupboard near the entrance of the library. She knowingly heated the water to prepare the tea for both of them who preferred the lighter beverage in the house as he seated himself on a cushioned chair nearby. He used the time waiting for the tea to ponder over the words he should say. Before he knew it, a steaming cup of tea was placed before him on the glass table; its familiar fragrance was a welcome to his senses. Misaki seated herself on the opposite chair, a cup of tea on her hand.

"Thank you," Baudin smiled gratefully before taking a sip of the hot liquid. The Japanese woman learned his taste in tea early on, having the same liking to that certain beverage. He preferred the tea natural and bitter so he could savor the rich flavor of tea leaves brewed in the water whilst she preferred her tea sweet with the addition of honey and milk.

Misaki simply smiled and sipped her own tea calmly, letting the silence fall between them to give him time to say whatever in his mind. In times like these he couldn't help to notice the small gestures. Her posture was relaxed, her back leaning on the cushioned chair, but her shoulders set and her chin high even as she sipped her tea from the cup slowly, her fingers slightly bent and slack.

Sonia was graceful, but not the same kind of grace that nobles or royalties who had been taught such etiquette since early age that it was deeply ingrained to them. Sonia's grace came more from her character who liked to maintain her appearance to impress, which was very well suited for her major as law defender, while Misaki's… was more of the other kind of grace. He remembered how easily the young woman fit in with the other guests in Lord Charlemagne's party without the slightest sign of awkwardness in her movements. He wondered whether that was what caught his master's interest. He inwardly shook himself, realizing that his mind had gone off track.

"There's something I need to tell you," Baudin started, putting down the cup of tea on the table. Clear blue eyes moved towards him, silently urging him to continue.

"I've taken special care and interest in your and the twins' health ever since I treated you. It came to my attention that the children inherited their father's blood but they didn't reveal any kind of vampire tendencies." Misaki merely nodded knowingly, he had told her of this the moment she was healthy enough to discuss of the possible dangers she might face during pregnancy when the twins seemed to inherit the vampire blood.

"I simply thought that it was mere genetic anomaly. And that your children were a perfect hybrid of human and vampire."

"Are they not?"

"No. Yes." Baudin rambled nervously, but Misaki seemed to understand that the no was for the genetic anomaly. "So I think it was something from the mother, instead of from the father."

"So I went through all of your medical reports for the past three years and I realized that… your blood was changing, if not already."

"You mean my blood has turned into vampire blood?" Misaki was oddly calm throughout the explanation, which was a contrast to him, but he could see how her grip on the cup tightened.

"Yes, I know it sounds impossible. All I know that the vampire blood that went into your system shouldn't affect your blood itself. I made the observations myself. But when I compared your blood before that incident and your latest blood sample a year ago, your blood definitely changed… to that of a vampire's."

"What do you think happen?"

"I have many theories… but the most plausible, realistic reason I can think of that you actually had dormant vampire genes in your blood that were awakened or triggered by the presence of vampire blood either from them or him…" Baudin didn't know how to explain it, his hands flailed around trying to find the right words.

"You're saying… that I'm actually the hybrid," intelligent eyes met his confused ones, "and it was the reason why the children didn't turn out the way they should be. That somehow my genes or something they inherited, managed to lock the vampire behavior in their blood."

Baudin was dumbfounded, the words he tried to come up with was easily spoken and summarized by the young woman and with surprising calm and composure.

"Yes. That's my suspicion," this time it was his turn to be confused. Misaki merely smiled a little sadly.

"This is my body, doctor, I know there's something different with me. I didn't actually enjoy good health. I had regular bouts of illness from time to time. It seems I inherited it from my mother who had weak body. However, for these past three years, I've never had any illness, not even a headache or sore throat," Misaki paused, her lips pursed thoughtfully, "I've had a paper cut once or twice when I was working on the assignments, I felt the pain, I saw the blood, but I never had any mark."

Baudin leaned back on his chair, taken aback with the new information. This time it was his turn to be the one asking the questions.

"How long have you noticed this?"

"It wasn't long after the twins were born. I thought it was momentary due to the blood still in the system, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

"But it didn't change," Baudin concluded sympathetically. He imagined how difficult it was for her to suddenly find herself changing without unable to do anything. Most changed humans at least knew what to expect after they were bitten and had time to prepare for it. She had no such luxury. However, it appeared that she knew for some time, but she handled it better than he would have in her position. Could it be because she expected it? He asked the question out loud.

"Most of my family lived longer than normal humans. It was believed because our ancestor was an immortal being," Misaki answered lightly as if it was nothing serious, but for Baudin who had learned to know her for three years, he knew that it wasn't.

He never heard of an unchanged human as a spouse to any vampire, let alone bear any vampire child, but it shouldn't be impossible. In order to maintain the purity of their own blood, the vampires rarely did not marry their kind, intermarriage, especially among purebloods became rather a common practice. Having any interest in ex-human vampires or even ordinary human was considered a disgrace, but it should not stop any vampire from having an affair with them, or even having children.

Although considering vampire children's nature, he thought the mortality rate for both the mother and the child would be great for the human body wasn't capable of handling such life form within, and that was based on the assumption that the child inherited the vampire blood. There was no scientific research done regarding how the vampires came into existence. It was generally believed that actually vampires came from normal humans, although what caused such drastic change was unknown; while there were proud vampires who denied this vehemently.

Being a scientist in the modern world, Baudin believed little in myth and legends that surrounded the origins of vampire kind deeply and inwardly thought that it could be explained by the least logic. Vampires had always enjoyed great authority due to their status and position, and it would be easy for them to erase or change parts or the whole of their own history, especially those that they didn't want others to know about themselves.

Through some of his private research and his privileges as the doctor for the twins, Baudin was certain that vampire traits were passed on through the parents' gene, although he wasn't sure _which_ and _how_. If vampire genes were rather dominant, then there should be more vampires in existence without discounting the nature of vampires. There was too little known about this, so he couldn't disregard any possibility.

"Just to make sure, other than your state of health, is there anything else, any other changes you noticed?" Baudin asked concernedly.

"Well… I cannot really tell, but I think my physical strength seems to be affected," Misaki answered rather hesitantly. Baudin understood why she wasn't sure; she was used to with her previous state of health and took more care to herself not to do more than she could, rarely pushing herself than necessary. The thought saddened him; life was already difficult enough for the young woman, having to pursue her studies while raising two little children on her own.

"Is that all Francis? I'd like to return to my work," Misaki inquired, interrupting his thoughts.

"Ah. Yes. Don't mind me. I'd like to think about this a bit longer," Baudin waved his hand.

Warm blue eyes looked at him in understanding. She stood up from her seat, gathering her own cup before giving a gentle pat on the older man's knee. That gesture made him smile although it turned slightly sad when Misaki left the library, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Misaki was kind to everyone and never hesitated to help in any way she could, her nature made it easy for other to open up to her but she herself rarely opened up to others. She was honest in her thoughts and feelings, but rarely revealed her deepest thoughts and feelings because she didn't like to burden others with her own matter. She didn't feel comfortable enough to.

Misaki never went as far as stopping the children to know their father, she always answered about him whenever any of them asked, but she didn't often initiate any conversation regarding the man herself. All of them knew that Misaki cared deeply, if not truly loved him, seeing the look in her eyes as she spoke of the silver-haired man to her children and as she looked at the constant reminder of their inheritance in their great resemblance to their father.

Sonia and Tanya, and himself who had seen how the man was affected with her near-death experience suspected that those feelings were returned in kind and because of it, they didn't understand how the two of them decided to separate without having any contact with each other. Unlike her friends, he was aware of the dangers if she were to be known of her relationship with the hunter leader, but those dangers should be reduced greatly as she lived with him whose master was known and also the fact that his own master himself had taken an interest in her, going as far as inviting and introducing her to the guests in his party.

Baudin wondered whether Lord Charlemagne was actually aware of her relationship with Kiryuu. His master was truly an exceptional pureblood that earned all the respect given to him, he wouldn't wonder if the man managed to connect the dots after seeing the twins. However, he didn't know the reason why Charlemagne went to such extent for a common human, which she was to him and he dared not to ask.

Lord Charlemagne could give her every protection she needed, especially against vampires, Baudin could help her when it came to her and her children's well being, and her friends could give her all the support she needed, but he thought it would never be enough. In the end, what Misaki needed… was him.

I

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The young woman didn't immediately return to her unfinished work after her conversation with the doctor, instead she stood by the window, letting the breeze caress her face and play with the golden strands of her hair. Her eyes were gazing at the view outside the window, but she wasn't seeing the crowds in the streets, or the French buildings around her.

Her hand reached out for an x-acto knife lying on the desk nearby. She looked at the pointed tip of the knife, lightly tracing the sharp edge. There was a brief pause before she suddenly swiped her finger against the blace. She winced slightly at the pain and the sight of blood from the wound, and slowly reached out to wipe the blood with trepidation. Beneath the blood, there was no trace of any cut, only smooth, flawless skin, as though she was never wounded. She cradled her hand to her forehead, her fair bangs fell before her eyes, wanting to simply curl into herself and hide for forever.

"Zero…" Her voice was quiet and hoarse, almost broken. _Please… I need you…_

Misaki closed her eyes, praying and wishing fervently for the one person who always understood.

A familiar image she hadn't seen for a long time came up in her mind. An image of the person she sorely missed with all her being. She wanted to reach out, she wanted to have him by her side.

_Zero_…

* * *

A little explanation for those who were wondering why in the hell there are mansions around _Champs-Élysées. _Again, it's a some of the liberties that I take, as you may have noticed in my portrayal _Schloss Esterházy. _It still exists right now, but it's more of a historical landmark where people can visit, no longer a residence to nobility. Despite the resemblance to our world, it's _not_ our world. In the world of VK, nobilities still have authority and prestige, they would still have residences in the most exclusive parts of the cities, especially in the capital.

'Nuff said. Please review! :D


	8. Chapter 7

I'm still alive! Thus I present you the latest chapter to express my greatest apology for not updating for such a long time. I'm afraid this chapter is unbetaed. This chapter is dedicated to my friends, Red Full Moon and Shapby and my amazing readers, QuietStorm and Xand'aa27. Thank you for reading. Here's to you.

~Audriel

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Sleepy blue eyes blinked awake, hidden underneath messy silver hair. Small chubby hands went to his eyes, trying to rub away the feeling of sleepiness. The boy of three sat up on the short bed made for children in the room that was obviously his room with the simple but colorful wallpapers and the assorted things from toys to illustration books compiled neatly on one side of the room. The boy turned to the other side of the bed where a girl about the same age and the same appearance with him, albeit with longer hair that was tied into pigtails was still sleeping. The boy poked the younger girl rather gently for a boy that usually had the tendency to use all his raw strength in doing things.

"Mizuki?" At the call of her name, the little girl blearily opened her eyes, which was the same clear blue eye color. The girl yawned, before finally recognizing the one who woke her up.

"Kazu… ki?" Her voice was still heavy with sleep.

"Look," he pointed out to the window where the blue sky was starting to show a tinge of fiery colors at the horizon. It was few hours before the sun set. It took a while for Mizuki to really see what her brother was pointing at, but when she did, her face brightened up.

"Aunt Tanya must be home," she scrambled on the bed, at this the boy nodded in agreement. The only sign of his excitement was his vigorous nod and the glint in his eyes.

Aunt Tanya was their mother's friend that often looked after them whenever she was busy, besides Aunt Sonia and Grandpa Francis. They liked Aunt Tanya the best though. She was funny and cheerful and liked to buy them sweets when she took them out. Today she promised them that she would take them to a walk to the park after she got home from work. With the energy that children possessed, both of them took the covers off them and before long they were already out of the room. Right on cue, they saw a taller figure wearing white dress shirt and brown pencil skirt putting down brown bags on the counter in the kitchen that was joined with the dining room.

"_Tatie_ Tanya!" The children called out the newcomer's name happily. The red-haired woman's face brightened up as she saw the twins; instinctively she knelt down so she was about their height.

"Hello, Kazu-kun, Mi-chan," a wide smile on her face as he greeted the twins.

Tanya let them call her in French, but she chose to call them by Japanese term of endearment that their mother liked to use whenever she indulged them. Mi-chan certainly sounded cute on her tongue for the sweet little girl who resembled more of her mother in personality, which she inwardly was grateful of although it was rather weird at first, seeing such face that resembled the cold father he knew so open and warm.

It was another case when it came to the other twin; Kazu-kun bore not only resemblance in appearance but also in personality. He refused to be called Ka-chan, and ended up ignoring her and glaring at her throughout the week when she tried it out. It was rather unnerving; it felt like it was Kiryuu himself who did it. She made a mental note to never call the older twin as Ka-chan anymore and made a promise not to, and chose to call him Kazu-kun instead.

The others though, including Misaki, preferred to call them by their name, although Misaki sometimes added the suffixes to their names which only made it lengthier than it already was. When she asked her friend this, Misaki simply laughed lightly and told her that there was a reason why she chose their names. She later added that her children would soon grow out the name calling.

Seeing the innocent looks on their faces, but not failing to see glimpses of maturity that sometimes shone through at surprising times, Tanya thought that the endearment would grow out rather sooner for them. That was why she intended to enjoy as much time as possible to let the children be what they were: just children.

"Are we going to the park?" Mizuki asked hopefully.

"Yes we are. _Tatie_ just needs to change and ask your mother first. 'Kay? Why don't you wait in your room?" She got identical nod at her words. The twins' behavior never ceased to amaze her. She stood up as she watched the two went back to their rooms, most likely getting ready for their walk to outside. They were really adorable, those two. And they were really not much of a hassle compared to her younger siblings, but somehow she expected that much from the children of Misaki and Kiryuu.

She took off her high heels which became rather painful to her poor feet after long hours of attending to customers and climbed upstairs barefooted with the heels in her hand, heading towards where her friend was. The last time she checked, Misaki was still working on the assignment from the firm where she worked, so she went to the opposite way from their bedrooms to the drawing room.

Tanya found her at the room she expected her to be, this time she was on her laptop, her hand skillfully steered the stylus next to her. The French woman playfully peeked through the door, partly revealing her head through the door.

"Come in, Tanya," Misaki chuckled as she caught her cheerful friend's antics at the corner of her eye without removing her focus from the design she was making on her computer. When she was sure that all of the lines were connected, she saved the work and finally looked at her friend who was watching from behind.

"That looks impressive," Tanya commented, she slightly bent forward to see the screen more clearly. She understood little about architecture other than what her friend explained to her, but she always thought that Misaki was an excellent architect. She had seen other architecture works from the exhibitions Misaki participated in, but she always found more liking towards her friends' designs.

She could tell that the designs were modern and exquisite from the various techniques, components used, but they seemed lacking at simplicity and warmth and comfort that Misaki's designs provided. She thought it was what was most important in buildings, especially houses that people lived in. Tanya knew that Misaki could make her designs that way if she wanted to, but she didn't and kept those three things as the main focus of her designs that eventually became her trademark.

"Thanks. How's today?" Misaki turned on her seat to look at her friend, giving her friend her attention. These kind of small gestures were such things that made Misaki easily likable; she always had time to answer other people's queries as insignificant as it might be and gave them her full attention when she could, added with her remarkable patience with children and people like her, who was sometimes too energetic, or hyper, whatever word synonymous with that for their own good.

"Tiring. But business is good," Tanya pouted at the reminder of endless stream of customers she had to serve that made her on her toes, almost literally. "I'll have more money to send back home."

"That's good to hear," Misaki gave her a sincere smile. "Don't you want to rest?"

"I promised to the children. I haven't had the chance to take them out lately."

"Alright then. Just don't go too far. The children tend to get excited when they see something new, and it'll be double trouble."

"You tell me," Tanya muttered under her breath, but it was heard nonetheless and earned an amused chuckle from the other woman.

"Well that's the twins for you. I'll get them ready then," Misaki winked at the red-haired woman before standing up to get her children ready for their walk in the park with their favorite aunt.

"Okay!" Tanya couldn't help to grin at the playful wink given to her. She just loved the light-hearted banter between them. Sometimes she was just tired keeping up the image of grown up and proper woman with a polite smile and graceful gestures that she had to maintain throughout her work hours. Her friends, the twins and the doctor were few people she truly felt comfortable around. With that thought, Tanya went to her room to get changed with a slight spring on her steps and whistle of her favorite tune on her lips, already felt more energized than before being around the people she liked.

I

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The twins were trying to get themselves ready for their walk to the park, trying to imitate their mother whenever she was going to take them out, but only ended up making a mess and the previously neat room turned into a war zone. Misaki saw this destruction made over her effort to tidy up the room after trying to collect every piece of clothing and toys scattered about and sometimes hidden at the most unexpected places, but she didn't try to stop them. She merely leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms under her chest, watching her three-year-olds trying to get themselves ready without her help with amusement.

"Do you need help with your socks, Kazuki?" The boy who was struggling with putting the white-red sock on his right foot on the floor, immediately perked up at the voice he easily recognized. "You want to change your skirt, Mizuki?" The girl who was previously digging through the pile of clothes at the corner of the room turned her head to the direction of the door. The twins' faces brightened up at the sight of their mother. Mizuki jumped on her feet and nearly stumbled on her toes when she ran to her mother, tugging the edge of her skirt to make Misaki looked at her.

"_Okaasan, okaasan_, I want to change my skirt," Mizuki asked her mother to help. Mother always knew how to choose the right clothes to wear and helped her to wear it right. Mother always looked beautiful and she wanted to look as beautiful as her mother, after all she was her mother's daughter as Grandpa Francis once said. Her mother smiled gently at her, placing a warm hand on top her long silvery hair.

"Let's find you the right skirt, then," then she turned to look at the other twin, "You nearly got it right, Kazuki, just turn the sock a little." Kazuki leant forward to see what his mother meant and tried to follow her directions as she walked to Mizuki's previously neat stacks of clothes while picking up the scattered clothes on the floor with the little girl trailing after her mother's heels.

After few tries, Kazuki finally got it right; the socks were covering his small feet perfectly, fitting it snugly like he wanted. There was a smug look on the chubby face, feeling accomplished and all grown up for being able to wear his own socks by himself, although he still needed help to wear his own clothes. He stayed on the floor, watching their mother helped his sister changed into the skirt she picked with the help of their mother. Mother let Mizuki wear the skirt on her own halfway.

Kazuki liked Aunt Tanya the best, but his mother was the bestest. Mother didn't fuss over him and his sister all the time like some mothers he saw whenever he went out with mother or Aunt Tanya or Aunt Sonia, yelling at children at his age whenever they did something, stopping them from doing anything, frowning at their children doings, not answering whenever they asked something.

Mother never did any of this. She didn't yell at him and his sister whenever they did something wrong, she would come to them and tell they why it was wrong. She didn't stop them from playing with dirty stuff, but warned them not to get hurt or rub his eyes with dirty hands or put things into his mouth. She would only laugh and smile at his and his twin's doings if it was funny, but if it wasn't, mother would only look at them and they would stop, then she would give them the brightest smile ever. And mother could always answer whatever question he asked, as surprising and sudden as it was. He felt really, really lucky to have Mother as his mother, not those unsmiling, fussy ladies.

"You've managed to wear your own socks, Kazuki. I'm proud of you." His mother, already done with his sister, knelt before him, giving him a smile and a gentle pat on his head.

He couldn't help to beam in pride at his mother's compliment. He loved his mother's smile and pats on his head, although he didn't like anyone else touching his head, maybe only Mizuki, but she was his twin, he could touch her head too. He would be able to wear his own clothes by himself soon. He could already wear his socks by himself. He puffed out his chest proudly at this thought; Mother simply tilted her head in amusement at his action.

"Let's go then. _Tatie_ Tanya must be waiting." At those words, the two children were immediately on their feet, their eyes bright with childish excitement, eliciting a carefree laughter from their beautiful mother who easily herded the twins towards the living room where their aunt would be waiting.

Tanya already changed into more casual clothes, short-sleeved pastel-colored baby doll shirt and white knee-length pants that suited her fresh and energetic look. It was one look Misaki could never pull off. True, her younger friend sometimes acted a bit too much that made her sometimes hard to follow, but she was one of the purest souls she ever encountered. Her dark blue eyes were always bright with life and happiness, innocence and sincerity that it was difficult to look away and didn't feel affected by her playful smiles and unrestrained laughs. Seeing her reminded everything good of their childhood and how they should be even after they grew up. Misaki thought she would be a good influence for her growing children. She didn't want them to grow up too fast.

"Are you guys ready?" Tanya slung a small purse over her shoulder.

"Yes." Came the chorused answer, excitement clear in their childish voices.

"Let's go then," Tanya gestured to the door. Suddenly before the twins headed to follow their aunt, Mizuki turned to Misaki who knelt down knowing what her daughter wanted to do and gave a kiss on her mother's cheek.

"I'm going _Okaasan_," Mizuki spoke with a gravity of a grown woman, although her expression was obvious of a child's. Kazuki merely nodded as if the words and the gestures he wanted to do were already represented by his twin, but Misaki knew that like his father, Kazuki wasn't one to openly show his feelings. Sometimes he simply chose to let his more open, friendly twin to do so in his behalf. Misaki returned the nod with a nod of her own; the smile never once left her lips even as she watched their figures drifting away into the distance from the window.

It was hard to believe that her children were the supposedly Kiryuu twins. From what she gathered, there were no living Kiryuu twins, until the generation of Zero and Ichiru. One of them usually died during the months in the mother's womb, the stronger one taking and making the weaker's life force and strength into his own. That was how the perfect hunter was created. However, her children were anything but the legendary Kiryuu twins.

Both of them were strong and healthy and most of all, they complemented each other perfectly both in mind and personality. No one was better than the other. She recalled how Zero mentioned that how it became obvious the difference between him and Ichiru in the early years and only grew more obvious as they grew older. It might be too early to tell, but she didn't notice it in her children. She wondered what Zero would think when he saw the twins and whether he would see what she saw… and realized that the future might not as bleak as it seemed.

Misaki let out a sigh… closing her eyes, wanting to have a glimpse of that familiar figure, and trying to see what the years had done to him. Her hand reached out as if trying to touch him, and she thought that she could feel the smooth skin underneath her fingertips, the taut lines over his face that was previously wasn't there, the tenseness across his feature and the firm outline of his face. He seemed better than before, but at the same time worse. As if he finally found what he wanted, but was unable to take it within his grasp.

_Oh, Zero_…

I

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Few moments ago, Kazuki and Mizuki were walking around the nice park close to their mansion with their Aunt Tanya. At the end of the walk, the red-haired woman decided to buy the children some ice cream from the small parlor near the entrance of the park. However, Mizuki heard a faint meowing from behind the bushes and couldn't help to follow the pitiful sounds, being the kind-hearted child she was.

But she forgot that she shouldn't get separated with Aunt Tanya, and Kazuki also forgot this, following his twin the moment he saw her slip away from their aunt's supervision. Both of them had very good ears, they could hear things from far away when others couldn't hear anything. They were also very fast on their feet compared to other children, so when Tanya finally realized her charges were missing, the two of them were already far.

Then all of a sudden Kazuki felt cold, as if the winter wind came through him, but it was warm summer day. His sister, who was kneeling on the floor, trying to get the small kitten hidden between the bushes, also felt the same. They exchanged questioning look towards each other when a man in a crumpled coat approached them.

"Ah, such sweet children. Are you lost?"

Those words reminded of the words of those fussy old ladies Kazuki once met, but unlike those ladies, he sensed danger that warned him to stay away from that odd-smelling man. He stepped back, his twin placed herself behind him. From their bond, they agreed that this man wasn't to be trusted. The two carefully walked backwards, while the man kept trying to get close.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

But the twins managed to see a glimpse of sharp fangs on the man and remembering their mother's warning they immediately took off. Kazuki ran as fast as his short legs allowed him without letting go of Mizuki who fortunately was able to follow her brother's steps. However, suddenly he was pulled back forcefully by Mizuki, making him stumble against her right when another scary man landed on where he was before.

"Go here!"

This time it was Mizuki who led the way and he let himself to be. His sister was good in directions, whenever they were lost, she always managed to find a way to go back home. He glanced back, trying to see those bad people but frowned when he didn't find them. His sister's cry made him turn sharply forward when one of the men appeared before them.

Seeing something sharp directed to Mizuki, Kazuki's protective instincts reacted. He jumped on his sister, pushing them both out of the way from the sharp claws. The children landed rather painfully against the uneven ground. Knowing that they weren't able to run, Kazuki used his own body as the shield for Mizuki, closing his eyes tightly in surrender, feeling the dangerous presence behind him. But instead of the feeling of pain, an unfamiliar bang could be heard, and a cry of pain followed soon after.

Kazuki dared to take a peek to see what happened from his shoulder. The two men were no longer looking at them hungrily, but they were looking at something on the other side. Seizing the chance to escape, Kazuki picked himself and his sister up and hid behind stacks of wooden boxes nearby.

"What happened?" Mizuki asked quietly, her blue eyes wide and fearful. He felt afraid too, because they were alone and there were two strangers chasing after them. He wanted to be strong, like father who fought bad people.

"I don't know," Kazuki didn't like not telling the truth to his twin or his mother.

The little boy dared to peek from the safety of the boxes to see what was happening and his eyes widened in surprise to see that there was someone else besides them. There was a tall man standing up against them, and he saw the man who approached him attacked that man, but the tall man seemed to disappear and appear next to the bad man, making Kazuki blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing a ghost. That tall man had similar scent with the strangers, but somehow, different. Not really bad, and cold. Strong, like Uncle Louis.

Kazuki thought it was the uncle because the man felt like him, and the man was as tall as him. But the man had different hair color. When he saw the color, his eyes widened in surprise and instinctively he tried to bring his bangs in front of his eyes and compared it to the color of the man's hair. It was the same color! Mizuki who could sense her brother's apprehension followed his example, trying to see through the gaps and her identical eyes widened too as she saw what happened.

Kazuki knew he was supposed to run, he was supposed to run back to Aunt Tanya who must be looking for them and to where people were, just like Mother told him when this kind of thing happened. But he found himself unable to move, his clear blue eyes were captivated by the events unraveling before him.

Those people who sent unpleasant feelings throughout his body were powerless against his savior; the tall man easily avoided every hit directed at him. Silver hair that was so much like his own swayed lightly with his graceful movements, it was almost like a dance, Kazuki thought, like the dance Mother did every weekend, although this dance was… stronger.

Kazuki didn't know how to describe what he was seeing, while he kept his hold on his sister behind him who was clutching his clothes tightly, but like him, she didn't run away. Both of them felt safe in the presence of the silver-haired stranger who was currently fighting the other strangers.

Then his eyes found a silvery glint beneath the dark coat, and his eyes widened in recognition of the shape of the device the man held. He had seen it in one of Grandpa Francis' collections. Grandpa said that it was called a gun. Gun was some kind of weapon. Weapons were something that could be used to hurt or protect someone, Mother once explained. Father had one of those, she also mentioned. It was a gun. It was rather big silver gun. Its name was Bloody Rose. It was Father's weapon to protect. And this man had also had big silver gun like his and Mizuki's father.

Then he heard a loud noise, like something popped out loudly, almost like the sound of a balloon blown up, although it was louder and he had to close his ears when he heard it. Then before his eyes, he saw those men turned deathly pale and staggered back, clutching their chest and slowly they cracked and broke into pieces like glass. And then they were gone.

The only one remaining was their savior; the big silver gun was in his hand. The man seemed to be looking around and he unconsciously followed his example, wondering whether there were more scary people like them. He held tight on his twin, not letting her go. However, the man stopped looking around, thinking that there was no more threat to them and put back his gun into his coat, hiding it from his view, to his disappointment.

The man finally turned toward their direction where they were hiding behind wooden boxes. As he walked closer and closer to them, Kazuki realized how tall the man was, much taller than him, even taller than Grandpa Francis, or Uncle Louis. He peeked behind the boxes, wanting to see whether the hair was truly silver, just like his and Mizuki. When the man was a step away from them, both of them instinctively ducked behind the safety of the stacks of boxes.

"Are you alright?" The man was just behind the boxes across him, he could see him kneeling on the ground through the gaps between the wooden boxes. Now that he was so close, Kazuki felt his presence was oddly familiar, as if he had met the man before and he felt that he could trust this man, but being always wary even around people he knew Kazuki still hid behind the boxes.

"Yes," he answered quietly. Then he felt a light nudge in his mind, calling out his name. His eyes met identical ones of his sister, both felt the same feeling, their faces brightened up because he knew that it only meant one thing.

"Kazuki! Mizuki!"

The twins heard the familiar voice calling out their names before they saw her. When they saw their mother, they forgot the presence of the stranger close by and jumped out from their hiding place. In their relief of seeing familiar face, the children didn't realize the sudden stop of their mother's movements towards them or the look of surprise on her face that mirrored to look on the stranger who saved them.

"_Okaasan_!" The two ran towards their mother as fast as their short legs allowed them to, throwing themselves bodily to their mother who immediately took them into her arms and all the while never released her gaze from the familiar silver-haired man standing not far from them.

Kazuki felt really, really glad. He buried his face against his mother's warm embrace. He felt safe that his mother was now here. The embrace was warm and tight.

"Are you two alright?" Misaki asked gently to her children, releasing them from her embrace, going down on her knees so she could have a good look of them. The two nodded together.

"Are you hurt?" The two of them shook their heads.

"What happened?" Although she had a vague idea what happened, but she needed to know firsthand and to make sure that her precious children were truly alright.

"I'm sorry," Mizuki was the first to speak, she rubbed her eyes guiltily, "I heard a kitten and I chased it. Kazuki followed me. We lost _Tatie_ Tanya and suddenly this scary man showed up."

"Smells bad, really bad," Kazuki quipped and Misaki knew what he meant by smelling bad didn't hold the same meaning with normal people.

"He asked us to go with him. We said no. _Okaasan_ told us to not go with strangers. But he kept trying. And then another man showed up. He was just like him. Kazuki pulled me and ran."

"I tried to look for _Tatie_ Tanya, or look for many people, but they kept chasing us. Then this man suddenly showed up," Kazuki fearlessly pointed his small finger to the man standing motionlessly behind them, unable to move from his position.

"He fought them off?" Misaki guessed gently, earning another nod from her children.

"They went poof," Mizuki expressively stated, using her hands to describe what happened. Her eyes were wide with surprise. It seemed like magic to them indeed, Misaki thought. When she turned to look towards the elder, she found a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's wrong, Kazuki?" Misaki gently touched her son's face.

"_Okaasan._.. That man…" she didn't need to know which man Kazuki meant, "He has the same hair with me. Doesn't he?"

"Yes," Misaki already knew where it was heading; he was his father's son after all.

"He has a big silver gun too…" Kazuki hesitated; his blue eyes looked up at her questioningly, hopefully, which made her heart ache, "Is he…?"

This time Misaki didn't immediately answer, instead she raised her eyes to look at the man she hadn't seen for three years. She knew he had been listening throughout the exchange between her and the twins and he heard the question Kazuki was asking. She wondered whether he would be gone and never seen anymore, or he would actually stay and meet their children. She could see the tumultuous emotions within his silver eyes and the uncertainty that graced his features and body language. Her children were waiting for her answer, she was aware of their gazes upon her. When she saw him barely making a move to leave, she decided to make the decision by herself.

"Yes, Kazuki. He's _otousan_." Those eyes that were identical with her own widened in pure surprise and excitement.

"That's _otousan_?" The happiness in those childish voices were unmistakable, Misaki felt her heart wrenched in pain at the realization how much they wanted their father. She didn't want to disappoint them, but she also didn't want to push him. She looked at him, trying to convey her thoughts to him without words. Separated for three years, she wasn't sure enough whether they were still able to understand each other without needing words to say it.

However, the man whom she missed dearly for the past three years seemed to understand, his previously guarded features were slowly softening and he finally took a step forward, slowly approaching her kneeling form with her children. The two children who noticed this turned towards him, without releasing their hold on their mother; even it seemed that they wanted to. When he was just a breath away from her and the twins, he went down on his knee and met her eyes for a brief moment before he looked towards the two little children whose resemblance to him was undeniable.

"Hello." She could pick his nervousness through the calm façade he wore. "Kazuki," he looked at the boy as he said his name, and did the same for the girl. "Mizuki."

"…_Otousan_?" It was Kazuki who spoke instead of Mizuki. Misaki unconsciously held her breath, anticipating what his response would be.

"Yes… It's _otousan_," the answer was careful, but gentle and it made her close to tears at the acknowledgment, at his willingness to be acknowledged as the children's father. There was a cry of childish delight, and Mizuki who had always been the less reserved of the two readily went to hug her long-awaited father.

Unused with such blatant display of affection, his posture was tense and awkward when he received the sudden hug, but he returned the hug nonetheless, placing a hand gently on the back of his daughter. Meanwhile, the other twin remained on his spot, seemingly wanting to follow his sister's example but no less awkward with any open display of emotions like his father, he hesitated.

Misaki tilted her head at their son, silently telling Zero to initiate it instead. The silver-haired man followed her suggestion, raising his other hand that wasn't holding the younger twin towards Kazuki. It didn't take long for the boy to take that invitation and also hugged his father. It was awkward for him first, but slowly it was gone.

Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, threatening to fall as she saw the scene before her. It was the sight she had truly wanted to see, the sight she had been waiting for when her children finally met their father whom they could only know through her stories. It didn't matter if it was just a chance meeting, if he didn't intend to meet them at first. She couldn't ask for more.

I

I

I

Afterwards, the children became inseparable with their father. Whenever they saw Zero, they would see the twins along with him. After the shared moment between father and children, the twins asked him to stay, a request that he couldn't deny so he walked with them together to their home. On their way they met Tanya who didn't hide her surprise seeing Zero with them, but she wisely held her tongue and asked her for the children instead.

When she found out what happened, Tanya apologized profusely for her carelessness and Misaki inwardly thought that her insistent apology was party fueled by the fear for Zero's anger for not taking care of his children well. She accepted her friend's apology and tried to calm her down and only with the help of her children who also apologized for getting separated with their Aunt Tanya did finally the red-haired woman calm down, although the guilty glances stolen her way still remained.

Baudin was surprised to see him when they got back home, but his surprise turned into something akin to relief and acceptance at his presence, greeting him warmly like he was any other guest. The doctor even asked whether he would stay. Zero didn't confirm that he did, but with the children immediate answer that he would, she knew he wouldn't try to disappoint them. Baudin immediately set up the library for him to sleep during his stay with enthusiasm that Misaki didn't expect. She was sure Zero didn't, either.

Sonia though, was a different matter. When she came home late and realized there was another presence in their house that happened to be the man she thought she wouldn't see anymore, she gave Zero a suspicious glare before pulling her away to question his presence after his three-year absence without any letter or call.

"How long is he going to stay?" Sonia asked, after they were in safe distance away from prying ears.

"I don't know," Misaki honestly answered, earning a disbelief look from Sonia.

"Misaki, that man has never been in contact with you and the children for _three_ years! No letters. No calls._ Nothing_! And he suddenly appeared in your lives?"

"Not exactly like he wants to," and before her friend could interrupt her, she explained what happened to the children when Tanya took them out to park. Her friend merely looked at her as if she was going crazy before rolling her eyes in exasperation, a reaction she expected.

"So you don't really know if he even _wants _to stay?" Disbelief was evident in the tone of her voice.

"Well, yeah…" The answer seemed only aggravate the dark-haired beauty.

"And what happens when he leaves?" Sonia questioned her. Misaki didn't say anything, only looking at her friend in understanding. Sonia couldn't help to let out a frustrated sigh, trying to get her temper under control by walking around in the small space in the kitchen, wary of her friend's patient eyes watching her.

"You know what might happen, don't you?" Sonia looked at her friend who never seemed fazed by her outburst.

"…I do. And I understand your concern. But give him a chance; we haven't had the chance to actually talk about it, those two pretty much taking over his time."

"Those kids are already attached to him," Sonia already noticed that when she saw him surrounded by the twins, and that only concerned her more, "What would happen to them if things didn't work out?"

Sonia's green eyes were sad and pleading and Misaki knew that Sonia spoke out of experience of being left by the people she loved and she wanted nothing but the best for her and her children. She knew that there was a chance that it wouldn't work out, she was realistic enough to admit it, but she knew she had to take a chance.

"It will. I'll make sure of it." Her tone was calm and determined and Sonia knew that nothing she would say would affect her decision. Sonia sighed, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Then I'll say nothing else about this." Sonia raised her hands in surrender and left her friend alone. Misaki only watched the retreating back sadly, inwardly hoping that Sonia's fears wouldn't turn into a reality.

Sonia kept true to her word; she never brought it up to her regarding Zero's uncertain presence in their lives. She was civil to him, but didn't go any further. Baudin spoke with him, so did Tanya, despite her own reluctance around the impassive man while she barely exchanged words with him, letting him to spend more time with their children who were all too eager to hear stories from their father, staying away from the children whenever he was with them, thinking that her presence would make him uncomfortable. Her life pretty much remained the same even with his presence; her post-graduate studies were getting interesting, her internship in _Atelier_ seemed to get busier as she was entrusted with more projects and getting to know more people in the architecture world.

That was how she found herself greeted by dark and silent home after she opened the door with her key. The lights of the hallways were purposefully on, so the house wasn't completely dark and she didn't need to stumble to find her way, although she was now able to see well in the dark without any light. She hung her coat on the hall rack and walked quietly towards the interior of the house carrying her luggage in one hand and storage tube for rolls of architecture drawing in the other, heading towards the side of the house where her and her children rooms were located.

Out of habit, she checked on her children first, slipping through the opened door with her things carefully. She chuckled to see the state her children were in, the covers was kicked aside in their sleep. Most of the time the children were a calm sleeper, they rarely moved about in their sleep unless they felt uncomfortable. It was summer, thus the rise in temperature. She turned on the thermostat so the temperature in the room was cooler and pulled the covers back over them. Both of them stirred, seemingly noticing the changes, but they returned to sleep comfortably.

She smiled in affection to see how they unconsciously shifted closer to each other despite the large space they had in their bed. She gently caressed the flawless skin of their cheeks, watching of any sign of distress caused by their dreams that became her habit and was once again relieved when she saw nothing of sorts. Quietly she picked up her things on the floor and was about to close the door a little when she felt a presence close by. She didn't actually sense it, but she simply knew that there was someone there. Instinctively she turned towards the direction where she came from and found the familiar figure of the hunter.

"Zero? You're awake?" Misaki was surprised to find him awake at these odd hours, but then again, she wasn't sure of his sleeping habits either.

"You came home late," was his response.

"Ah," that made her realize that he didn't know much of her life. "I went to work after class. There's a new project. We're up all night making the basic plans. I called home that I was going to come home late. Francis didn't tell you?" She took off her heels at the end of her explanation. When those heels were discarded, she flexed her feet to get rid of the aches for wearing it almost 20 hours.

"He did." The tone of his voice made her look up. His face was unreadable as always, giving away little of his feelings, but for her that had grown to know where to look could see the need behind his eyes.

"Let me put this first," she gestured her briefcase and the rolls of paper, "And I'll meet you in the dining room." There was a brief nod then she went to her room nearby. Zero watched her go to her room, before finally heading towards the dining room where he was told to.

Zero turned on the lights of the dining room and seated himself on one of the chairs around the dining table, thinking of the recent events. Including today, it was his third day in Paris, in the doctor's house where Misaki and the children and also her friends lived in. He had seen glimpses of the life of her and their children. _Their_ children, he thought, since when did he start to speak of the twins as theirs?

Most of his time was spent with the twins. Inwardly he marveled at their resemblance with him and especially at Kazuki's resemblance with himself when he was about his age and the two's almost identical appearance, reminding himself of him and Ichiru.

They were rather quiet children most of the time; they rarely raised their voices and chose to stay silent when they had nothing to say, although they could speak really fast and a lot when they had something to say like when they told their mother what happened back then in the park. They were observant and curious, often asking him questions about himself and his job. He was surprised of the extent of their knowledge regarding him and his job, although they had yet to know the details. He had expected her not to tell much about him, and was surprised when he found otherwise.

The twins were as strong and as healthy as he was told. They reminded him more of himself than Ichiru in their childhood. They were very bright and inquisitive for children their age and sometimes they didn't act like their age. However, as much as he saw himself in them, he also saw her in them. The eyes were the most noticeable, the same eyes like their mother, like he once wished for. And unlike his own eyes which barely gave away any emotion, their eyes were honest and vibrant.

He could see traces of her kindness and patience, and her wisdom and maturity. Mizuki was more like her mother than Kazuki in her openness both in her mind and feelings, knowing when to keep things to herself and when not to. Kazuki had his mother's calm and reserved nature, and often he was the more sensible one than his twin, sometimes reminding his sister what to do and not to do.

He found himself enjoying their interactions as it reminded him of the good memories of his childhood spent with his own twin when harsh reality didn't start to affect their relationship as brothers. Both of them were their own person, regardless of their shared similarity. He noticed Kazuki's preference to read and watch everything around him and Mizuki's preference to draw and create things.

He noticed how Kazuki liked to do things on his own until he succeeded, while Mizuki wouldn't hesitate to ask for help when she needed it. He noticed how protective they were to each other, Kazuki more often showed it through his actions, while Mizuki more often showed it through her words. He couldn't help to fill with pride to know that they were their children and to think how well Misaki raised them.

His acute hearing caught the sound of soft tread that was light yet sure against the floor that he had come to associate with her. Not long she appeared in his line of sight; she had changed her work clothes into more comfortable clothes and let her hair down instead braided down her shoulder. Unconsciously he blinked few times when he saw her. He hadn't had a good look on her after their initial meeting in the park. The first thing he realized that her hair was longer than before, her long curly hair now reached her back, her features became more refined and her figure became filled out, more well-proportioned.

She was beautiful.

"I'd make some tea. Would you like some?" Misaki asked him, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. A nervous habit he recognized.

"Ah," his eyes never left her as she went to prepare the tea in the kitchen behind the counter.

He knew mostly what happened to Misaki after he left from Doctor Baudin. Few days after receiving blood transfusion from him, she made a complete recovery, not only regaining her consciousness but also her health before the incident. His blood seemed to have the same healing powers with the purebloods'; leaving no trace of injuries on her and from his keen observation, there was none. And there was no side effect of his blood in her system.

Baudin told him that her blood absorbed his blood's strength perfectly. The pregnancy and the labor also went smoothly without any problem. She managed to return to classes and continue her studies, even managed to graduate along with the others despite her absences. She was currently continuing her studies, taking post-graduate course while continuing her work in Atelier where she once had her internship in order to become a licensed architect.

The familiar scent of Darjeeling soon filled the room as she appeared from the kitchen carrying two cups and a pot of tea into the dining room. She laid the cups down, one before him and one at the opposite side and the pot between. From the scent alone he knew that she had added a few lemon drops in his tea, the way he liked his tea sour and bitter. Inwardly he smiled to the fact she still remembered.

He traced the rim of his cup, feeling the warmth radiating from the newly heated tea and watching the steam rising from the tea. He heard her brought the cup to her lips, and could imagine in his mind how she drank the tea gracefully. When he looked at her, he saw that she did it the way he remembered she always did.

He finally picked the cup to drink the tea served for him. There were few moments of comfortable silence despite the awkwardness they still felt. Both of them used the silence to think of their words and soothe their nerves.

"How are you?" Zero decided to be the one to initiate the conversation. He could see the slight surprise on her face, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"I'm fine. Things are going well so far for school and work. How about you? Are you getting the hang of things?" Misaki tilted her head slightly at this, smiling softly. He felt his breath catch; he had never had this kind of conversation for a long time with her when she would look at him with those warm and understanding eyes and that kind and patient smile on her lips. He didn't realize how much he missed this.

"Pretty much," he said with slight difficulty. "So you're continuing your study?"

"Post-graduate course. Two more years and I'd get my license."

"And you also work?"

"Well. Actually I was required to have minimum one year internship in one of the architecture firms, before getting post-graduate diploma, but I was offered to continue working in Atelier where I had my internship although no longer full time so I wouldn't need to gain more work experience to finally take the examination to get the license."

"That's great," he was truly proud of her. "But isn't it difficult? Post-graduate course isn't exactly easy."

"No, it's not. But the offer is hard to refuse, that kind of thing doesn't come twice," her eyes bright with enthusiasm at the prospect of learning, making him smile slightly. "The others made me accept the offer, and they even volunteered to look after the children when I was busy… The pay is good too."

Those last words made him froze, he was faintly aware of the slight twitch in her fingers as she went to explain further, not wanting to make him feel bad. "Baudin has been nothing but kind to us. Not only he gave us a place to stay, he also helps with our living. Me and Sonia and Tanya. I don't like imposing on him further. We manage," she smiled a little uncomfortably. There was a moment of silence, before finally she spoke up.

"How's Yuuki?" There was a knowing look in her eyes, but never judging, like always.

"…She just had a daughter, Kaede. Kuran Kaede."

"Is that so? How is she?" She didn't seem too surprised.

"More like her mother, fortunately," he let the sarcasm into his voice, wanting to hear her chuckle at his comment, which he got. It was like he remembered it was, like a gentle ringing of the bells: light and bright. And the way her eyes sparkled in amusement. He was glad that although having to raise children while studying and working, the light in her eyes didn't fade. He felt a pang of guilt, knowing partly it was his fault.

"What if she didn't?"

"I've had enough Kuran Kaname, thank you," disdain was evident in his tone, she didn't fail to notice.

"Still not in good terms with the Kuran?"

"It's not like we want to be," he scoffed, "I can respect him, but I cannot fully trust him."

"Don't you with Yuuki?" She looked at him questioningly.

"_Only_ with Yuuki," he emphasized, "You've had to read into the lines with him."

"Did Yuuki make you Kaede's godfather?"

"She did. And I think it was merely political reasons why Kuran accepted. If it's me, I won't make him the godfather, let alone near the children." Misaki smiled, noting the protectiveness as he spoke of the children.

"What do you think of the children?" She immediately picked up the direction of conversation. Zero looked at her, playing with the small spoon on the saucer.

"They have your eyes," was the first thing that came from his mouth. He saw her duck slightly behind her cup to hide her blush. And the fact made him oddly pleased.

"They're more like you though." It was undeniable fact, one could tell that in a glance. It was rather dangerous, if anyone saw him together with the twins. That was why he gave extra care not to be seen during his stay; especially he noticed there were some vampires in the vicinity.

"They can tell the difference between humans and vampires." He was stunned to hear how the two innocently told that the two scary people that attacked them were different from normal people. It wasn't a result of observation, which was how their mother did it; it was a result of instinct, a hunter's instinct, which warned him of the presence of vampires.

"They are. They are truly the Kiryuu twins." There was something else he noticed, but it was rather too early to tell. They also might inherit their mother's foresight to a certain extent.

"They seem normal," and without needing to elaborate, both knew what he meant.

He had seen one of his children fell and scraped their knee when they were playing in the garden, he smelled the scent of blood, but when he approached them, there was no signs of injury. Their skin was smooth and unscathed. They were also in better shape than human children, remembering how Kazuki had accidentally broken a tree branch. But they didn't try to take any life force like vampire children, recalling how little Kuran drained his life force at her touch. They were as normal as human children to others, until they found out their healing and physical ability.

"They do," she confirmed. It relieved him as much as it worried him. When he first heard of the doctor how their children inherited his blood, he was afraid that they would turn out like him, unable to decide their own fate. Maybe it was safer for them to be considered as vampires than humans that had the ability of vampires. Inwardly he was surprised that he went as far as thinking it would be better for his own children to be vampires.

"So they're some sort of perfect hybrid of human and vampire? How could it happen?"

"We, Francis and I, have our suspicions…" she seemed reluctant, he noticed, but continued, nonetheless, "It might be because of me… of my inheritance." When she spoke of inheritance, he remembered her talking of her family.

"Do you mean your ancestor?" She nodded.

She had told him that her family was descended from a pureblood whose special gift of foresight was passed on to her children and her children's children, but somehow, didn't passed on her long life, although most of her descendants lived longer than ordinary humans, and her better physical ability. If it was genetic, then it wouldn't be impossible to be some leap in generations. But seeing her reluctance, he knew there was something more. He was about to ask more, but decided not to. She would decide whether she would tell him or not.

"…How long are you going to stay?" Finally the question was out. She had kept her face neutral, but he knew, as much as he felt himself, that she wanted to know. He had asked himself that question when he lay awake on the temporary bed in the library.

"I don't know…" he admitted softly, running his hand in his silver hair, leaning back on the chair. "I… didn't intend to stay. I didn't intend to show up before you. I... still think I shouldn't."

"Will you tell me why?" Her eyes were kind and patient and he knew that whatever he said wouldn't matter for her, but he couldn't bring himself to speak even the words were on the tip of his tongue. He wasn't ready, he was afraid that it would make her despise him. He unconsciously gritted his teeth and clenched his hand on the table tightly, avoiding her eyes.

Warm, gentle hand was on his clenched hand, the touch made him relaxed his hold. He could sense her leaning forward; faint familiar flowery scent wafted to his senses, making him turn his eyes turned toward her direction and met clear blue eyes.

"Tell me when you're ready. I'll be right here," she smiled in understanding, giving light pressure on his hand, warm and reassuring. "It's already late, let's get some rest." When her hand left his hand, the loss of contact made him disappointed, but he knew better than to show it, so he merely nodded. When she was about to gather the cups and the pot, he stopped her.

"Let me. You go first. Don't you have class in the morning?"

"In the late morning, yeah," she corrected with a smile, "I'll go to sleep then. Don't stay awake too long."

He gave a tight smile at her words. She knew that he would be thinking of everything they had talked about. He watched her until he could hear the door of her room quietly closed. He wanted to know everything he missed, but the conversation they had was already too much for him.

Knowing what she had to endure by having his children made him sick with shame and guilt. She was supposed to do everything she wanted to do, pursuing her dreams to be an architect and learning as much as possible of the world. He didn't know how much she had to sacrifice because of the unexpected arrivals in her life. He only made things more difficult for her.

_What could he do?_

* * *

Please read and review! I'll try to update much faster than before!


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